Sand Key, Treasure Island, and St. Pete Beach will get fresh sand again in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after ending a decade-long stalemate Friday.
The federal agency has been financially assisting Pinellas County to renourish its beaches since 1966, historically covering two-thirds of the cost.
The initiative is important: protecting coastal infrastructure from storms and rising seas, preserving wildlife habitats for sea turtles and birds, and supporting local tourism economies.
But in 2015, the Army Corps started asking beachside private property owners to permanently allow public access in areas replenished with new sand.
When the homeowners refused to sign easements, the agency stopped helping to pay after 2018. Unfortunately, the relationship stalled just before major hurricanes pounded the shorelines.
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"We were hit by Idalia, and then we were hit by Helene, and then Milton, and there was just nothing left,” said Kelli Hammer Levy with Pinellas Public Works.
The storms eroded the beaches so much, they lost a lot of endangered sea turtle nests last year.
"We did not have a good beach, and a lot of the nesting sea turtles nested right at the high tide line, so they got inundated with salt water, and unfortunately didn't hatch,” she said.
The county had to request emergency funds from the White House as a workaround to the Army Corps’ blockade.
“Because we had so much damage, we had to put down 2 million cubic yards of sand … it's enough to fill the Dali Museum, I think it was like 10 times. It's a huge, huge amount of sand,” Hammer Levy said.
“Normally, we don't put even nearly that much, because we do maintenance. That's the importance of maintenance.”
ALSO READ: Beachfront property owners and Army Corps at impasse over beach renourishment
It cost about $100 million to fix what was broken after so many years of no upkeep, but Hammer Levy said each renourishment cycle is usually in the range of $30 million to $50 million.
The Army Corps changed its tune recently, now offering temporary easements, instead of permanent ones, among other points with which it has become more flexible.
"I'm super excited that we found compromise, and I really, really hope that this helps move the needle for the residents who were not willing to sign an easement before,” she said.
Construction easements from beachfront property owners are still needed for 100% of the properties in the beach nourishment projects, Pinellas County’s website says.
And as of May, only 70% of properties in Sand Key have signed and recorded compliant easements.
The county plans to work toward getting everything squared away by the next beach renourishment, which is planned for 2030 with subsequent projects expected every five to six years.
Hammer Levy said the Sand Key project is eligible for that federal funding through 2043, plus any extensions.
“You see all these people out here having a great day,” she said standing on the wide, sandy shore of North Redington Beach. “But what I see us standing on is an engineered beach berm that serves as a wave break for the properties and the county behind it.”
