Pass-a-Grille Beach renourishment project will lead to months of beach closures
ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - Rick Falkenstein’s Pass-a-Grille business is named Hurricane Seafood Restaurant. Despite its beachfront location and its name, it has been spared by storms year after year.
"The hurricanes never had saltwater or sand inside like a flood," he said. "The only time it does come inside is on flip-flops and or dripping off from the bathing suits," Falkenstein said.
He thanks beach renourishment efforts for protecting his business, so he says he doesn’t mind that the beach will shut down for a few months when the latest project begins June 3.
"Anyone who's in business along the Gulf Coast needs the beaches, not just Pass-a-Grille, St. Pete Beach, but all the way up the coast to Clearwater and probably further north and south. Take away the beaches, take away the people. It’s not just the visitors, but the locals, the residents coming from Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota. We get a lot of folks coming up from there. So that's my concern, not losing that type of business," he said.
Crews plan to make the beach about 165 feet wide by dredging from the Grand Canal and the Pass-a-Grille Inlet. The two-phase project includes placing about 10,000 cubic yards of sand from the Grand Canal. Crews will place another 140,000 cubic yards of sand from the inlet. That part of the project is still awaiting permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but Dr. John Bishop, Pinellas County’s Coastal Management Coordinator, said he’s confident they’ll get the permits in the next month.
"We need to replace the sand every 10 years or so, or it’ll continue to erode back," Dr. Bishop said.
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Phase one of the project will close the beach from First Avenue to Ninth Avenue, and the pier, from June to August. After Phase one wraps up, phase two will close the beach from Ninth Avenue to 22nd Avenue until October.
"I know it's a major inconvenience. It's going to be because it's construction on the beach, but Pass-a-Grille itself, the businesses here, the community really depend on this beach as a source of tourism, as a source of enjoyment, and a source of nesting ground for the turtles and shorebirds. So, I think it's vital that we put it [sand] back," Bishop said.
According to Bishop, they’re working with Sea Turtle Trackers to relocate any sea turtle nests that are in the project area.
"This project really has to happen now. It may be peak season, but it's also before the hurricane season. So, we need to try to get as much protection out here as we can prior to the next storm season. This is supposed to be a very active storm season. So, I think this is very well-timed," Bishop said.
The county is allocating about $4.4 million from its tourist tax dollars towards the $6 million project price tag. A federal grant is picking up the rest of the tab.
"Billions are brought into Pinellas County every year due to tourists coming to visit our beaches and $6 million pales in comparison to that," Bishop said.
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The county spent about $30 million up and down the coast on emergency dune restoration after Hurricane Idalia, including Pass-a-Grille, according to Brian Lowack, President and CEO of Visit St. Pete Clearwater. The money for those projects was also from tourist tax funds.
"We set aside half of a percent of that bed tax to dedicate solely to beach nourishment because of how important it is," Lowack said.
"Last year, we received over $98 million in bed tax collections from those visitors coming down here, and our visitors had a total economic impact of almost $11 billion. So, the money is truly well spent when we reinvested into these beaches, not only for our visitors, but also for our residents," Lowack said.
Last year was a record for bed tax collections, Lowack said. March, Lowack said, was the single highest month for bed tax collections in the county’s history.
Falkenstein said the money is well spent.
"I look at these projects as protecting Pass-a-Grille residents and then the businesses. We will make up for that when the project is over," Falkenstein said.
Businesses will stay open during the project. County officials also urge boaters to be cautious around the dredging areas when the project gets started.
The county plans to post updates on the project on its website.
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