Pinellas County urges property easements to move Sand Key beach nourishment forward

Pinellas County officials on a public webinar said the county cannot begin full beach renourishment on the Sand Key segment unless property owners sign construction easements that permit design, construction and periodic maintenance.

"Plain and simple, we need to get our beach nourishment projects done," Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters said. "We need sand for storm protection, for property values, for tourism." Peters urged residents to sign easements and to press neighbors and city officials to do the same.

County Public Works Director Kelly Hammer Levy and coastal management coordinator Dr. John Bishop explained why easements are required and how gaps are blocking a constructible project. Bishop said the county currently needs 208 easements in the Indian Rocks Beach–Indian Shores–Reddington Shores section and that existing holdings leave insufficient continuous rights to build the full project. "If we don't have enough easements to have a constructible project, then we can't build a project," Bishop said.

Why it matters: The Sand Key project is part of a federally authorized program the Army Corps of Engineers historically cost-shared at about 65 percent; county staff said the federal office has not yet issued…