Indian Shores hotel's beachfront view blocked by big pile of sand from county renourishment project

INDIAN SHORES, Fla. - A hotel owner in Indian Shores is desperate for solutions after she said the county dumped a big pile of sand in front of her hotel. It's now obstructing the beachfront view, and she's worried it'll put her out of business.

The beach renourishment is supposed to help prevent flooding, but Katrena Hale, who owns Sand Glo Villas in Indian Shores, said when she signed the sand renourishment agreement with the county, she was never told it would result in a big pile of sand obstructing their views. 

She's hoping the county can smooth it out before her business takes a hit.

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Normally, hotel guests can see the beach from the outdoor fire pit, but now a giant mound of sand is their view.

"It's quite disturbing. The unit that we've been renting for years is on the first floor. We could always see the water and the waves and now all we see is this big pile of sand," hotel guest John Zulch said.

Hale has been running Sand Glo Villas in Indian Shores for 23 years. During that time, she said the county has never obstructed her view by dropping off a big pile of sand like she said they did last Thursday. 

As Hale explained, last week she signed an agreement with the county for a temporary easement beach renourishment to help prevent flooding, but said she didn't know it would result in a big pile of sand obstructing the view.

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"My property is the lowest point too, it's still going to come through here, so I'm still going to get flooded, so now the only difference is now I have no view," Hale said.

She reached out to the county to see if the pile of sand could be smoothed out or flattened, but said she was told the county can't make exceptions for individual properties.

"It's going to ruin my business, because part of why people came to this particular property is because we were quaint, cute, old Florida. We're non-elevated. You walk right out your door and onto the sand," Hale said.

As Hale explained, some of her longtime guests are elderly and enjoyed the beach from right outside, but now the pile of sand has put the beach out of view for first floor guests. Hale said she's desperate for a solution.

"I don't want to sell this. I don't want to lose this, but I can't hold on to it if no one wants to rent here," Hale said.

Hale said she's hopeful she can work something out with the county. 

FOX 13 received the following statement from the county:  

"Ms. Hale reached out to us while grading was still in progress, and our staff explained that the dune had not yet been graded to its final slope and elevation. The dune has since been completed and was constructed according to the design that was presented to all property owners in the project area.

The County and our barrier island cities have done a tremendous amount of outreach to residents and property owners about the dune construction. The County regularly updates our project website and has done dozens of media interviews and spoken directly with countless residents and businesses. Indian Shores is highly supportive of the project and communicates regularly with its residents via its website and subscriber-based news flashes.

The sand dunes are replacing sand we lost during Hurricane Idalia, and they’re providing critical storm surge protection while the County works with federal authorities to obtain authorization for a full nourishment project."