Access 12, beach plans discussed
Plans for Beach Access 12 and Turtle and Siesta public beaches were the primary topics of discussion at the Nov. 5 Siesta Key Association meeting, with presentations by county officials Rob LaDue and Curtis Smith.
LaDue was first on the agenda, with the plan for Access 12 at Crescent Beach, which is almost exactly across from Old Stickney Point Road. Over time, he said, elevation levels had changed in the dunes area, creating flooding problems around the western end of the parking lot after heavy rainstorms. Phase 1 involves the improvement of drainage in that section.
Asphalt will be pulled up and a drivable surface created with the use of interlocking blocks of concrete and beach-compatible sand. That sand will allow water to percolate into the ground. A state permit will be needed for that road work, LaDue said; the county is applying for the permit.
Phase 2 calls for improvements from the western end of the parking area out through the existing dunes to allow maintenance and security vehicles access to Crescent Beach.
He reminded the audience that in 2005-06 and into early 2007, "we had some really bad seaweed events" on Crescent Beach." The seaweed would pile up 5 feet high and 30 feet across, stretching for about 3 miles.
The only way to remove it, he pointed out, was with double-axle trucks driving from Siesta Public Beach. "That’s a safety issue," he said. "The less you have the trucks on the beach, the better."
Therefore, the second phase would widen the travel area of Access 12 to 15 feet. With that much room, trucks could come in from the road early in the morning, workers could remove the seaweed, and the public would be able to enjoy a clean beach.
The access would be closed at night with a gate to make sure the trucks would not have to contend with other traffic in the mornings.
Phase 2 will need the approval of the county commission, LaDue said. Public comments will be sought prior to construction, and a public hearing will be held before the board vote.
In response to questions, LaDue said that any seaweed that washes ashore still is dried at the old ball field at the Siesta Public Beach before the county transports it to a dump. However, county officials are trying to come up with another site for the drying process.
"Because I know it smells," SKA President Lourdes Ramirez said.
And because seaweed is a wet material, LaDue said, officials ultimately might decide to dry some of it on Crescent Beach or in that area.
"That’ll improve the popularity of the project," SKA board member Bob Waechter interjected.
SKA board member Nancy Wilson facetiously suggested that Benderson Development might allow the county to use the property it had purchased at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Stickney Point Road to dry the algae, since no development had been forthcoming on that site.
"This is a public project," LaDue said of the Access 12 plan. "It benefits the public as a whole."
In response to other comments, LaDue said the county received numerous calls during the last seaweed event, with condominium complex owners irate over tourists threatening to leave and wanting their money back because the beach was not the beautiful, nationally known setting they had been led to believe it was.
And some of those tourists might never come back, he said.
When asked how often the public could expect to see a seaweed event on the beach, LaDue replied, "We’re dealing with Mother Nature, and it’s difficult to predict."
Commissioner Nora Patterson pointed out, "When it happens, it happens for months and months."
STORMWATER PROJECT
Smith took the "stage" next to talk about both the stormwater drainage project for the key and the Siesta and Turtle beach improvement plans.
With a permit already in hand to discharge treated stormwater into the Grand Canal – a plan that met with considerable community opposition, Smith noted – the county is "well under way with permitting" for an alternate proposal: discharge going into the Gulf of Mexico.
The biggest problem with that process, he said, is that it took all summer for state officials to decide which agency needed to consider the permit application.
Finally, Smith said, county officials sat down with state officials last week to talk about the gulf proposal. "It was a very good meeting."
Public sessions on the gulf option will be scheduled soon, he added.
Asked for cost estimates, Smith said the Grand Canal discharge process was estimated at $1.3 million, while the gulf discharge was put at $1.5 million.
THE BEACHES
Turning to Siesta Beach, Smith announced, "The big news right now is that [on Nov. 4] the county’s professional services review committee did select a design firm for us to work with" – Kimley-Horn & Associates of Sarasota.
Smith said the county hoped to have the contract signed by January. The renovation of buildings could start as soon as December 2010, he added. The work will be accomplished in phases, to create as little disruption as possible for beach-goers, especially during season.
Then Smith talked about Turtle Beach. The concept approved by the county commission in January is designed to improve the flow of parking, increase parking, increase the pedestrian-friendly aspects of the park, improve signage and move rest rooms closer to the beach. As it is now, he noted – speaking as a parent – if a child playing in the water suddenly realizes she needs to go to the bathroom, it’s a bit of a haul to get her in a timely fashion to the rest room by Midnight Pass Road.
He emphasized that the plan he had with him for everyone to see "is not a design concept."
Turtle Beach already has 221 parking spaces, Smith said, but the concept plan has 219. To address concerns that the county was going to lower the number to create larger spaces for trailer parking, he said, more spaces will be added in other areas.
This version of a conceptual plan for Turtle Beach park was completed on Oct. 31, 2008. In January, the Sarasota County Commission approved a plan that will serve as the basis for improvements to the park.
When SKA member Deet Jonker asked Smith how many extra parking spaces could be provided if the county closed the adjacent RV park, Smith replied that he would not look at that option unless directed to do so by the county commission.
By that point, Patterson had left – as Ramirez noted – so the SKA board members couldn’t ask her opinion.
"I would really like an answer to that," Jonker said. "Perhaps that spot could provide 200 more. That’s cost efficiency."
Smith reiterated that the county commission’s policy has been to keep the RV park open.
LaDue noted that a lot of local people enjoy camping in the RV park; he said the facility is grossing more than half a million dollars a year for the county. "Parking doesn’t really return that unless we start charging for parking," he added.
Ed Sherman, who lives in a condominium at Turtle Beach, disputed that, saying the park occupancy had been low over the past five months.
LaDue made no further comment.
Former SKA Vice President Ann Kaplan and Sherman also challenged the parking plans.
Kaplan told Smith the plan was the same one residents had seen earlier and had agreed was terrible. "I don’t understand why we’re still at this point."
The next morning, I spoke with Smith by phone to clarify the process the county had gone through. Staff had started out with three conceptual plans, he said, but the county commission had not been able to agree on any one of them. Instead, the commissioners asked staff to take elements they liked in each of those plans and create a new concept, "and that’s what this plan is," he said.
His SKA presentation referenced the plan approved by the commission in January, he reiterated.
Smith continued, "This is not just a parking lot project. This is a park improvement project. ... We have to balance all those elements. ... My charge is to take the concept plan, which is the county vision ... and turn that into a reality."
As the project gets under way, he added, "we know we will find things out. There will be adjustments here and there will be adjustments there."