St. Augustine commission approves easements to advance Lake Maria Sanchez flood mitigation project

The St. Augustine City Commission voted unanimously Feb. 24 to approve a resolution authorizing the acquisition of easements — by negotiated conveyance or, if necessary, eminent domain — for the Lake Maria Sanchez flood mitigation and drainage improvement project.

The action clears a key legal hurdle that city staff said has delayed the project for years: securing private easements along the southern edge of Lake Maria Sanchez where the city must construct a hip‑high flood wall, a pump station and other stormwater improvements. Jessica Beach, the city’s resilience lead, told the commission the project would protect about 186 flood‑prone structures and is designed to the equivalent of a 25‑year storm surge while allowing for additional protections in the future.

City staff and the project’s designer stressed the timing and scope. The project is being funded primarily through two state sources: roughly $20 million from the Resilient Florida program for construction and $10 million in state legislative appropriations for design and construction. Beach said the city originally began design work under a FEMA hazard mitigation grant program after Hurricane Matthew and has phased the work so the north portion (near City Hall) can move forward while the southern portion…