Sunset Beach To Reopen This Weekend Following Erosion Restoration

TREASURE ISLAND, FL — After a month of restoring the dunes and planting vegetation, the emergency sand dune restoration project on Sunset Beach is complete and Pinellas County will reopen the popular beach in Treasure Island this weekend.

Pinellas County headed up this project using $6 million of the county's tourism taxes.

Hurricane Idalia's storm surge, tides and winds in late August combined with the impact of four tornadoes that touched down in Pinellas County on Oct. 12 has caused one of the worst cases of beach erosion Pinellas County has ever experienced, said Pinellas County Coastal Management Coordinator John Bishop.

During a news conference, Bishop said more than 21 of the county’s 35 miles of beaches were already in critical need of restoration before the Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds of 130 to 156 mph and 7 to 12 feet of storm surge passed by Pinellas County on its way up the Gulf Coast to Florida's Big Bend area where it made landfall on Aug. 30.

“After Hurricane Idalia, our beaches were the most eroded that I’ve seen since I’ve been here," he said. "We’ve lost dunes across the county, and we were probably one of the worst hit for beach erosion from Idalia in the state. So we’ve been working tirelessly to try to put some protection in place.”

Sand dunes located above the water lines on at least six Pinellas beaches were washed away following Idalia, threatening the stability of homes and businesses along the Pinellas coastline.

Erosion restoration work began on Sunset Beach, the beach most in need of erosion control repairs when Hurricane Idalia struck.

The resulting storm surge devastated the beach, undoing some of the county's efforts to restore the dunes while causing additional damage.

After declaring the erosion an emergency and obtaining short-term construction easements from property owners to rebuild the dunes, the county followed up by planting native vegetation on the dunes to stabilize them.

With that phase of the project now complete, the beach will reopen Saturday morning. However, the city is asking residents and visitors to stay off the dunes until the new vegetation is established.

Treasure Island Public Information Office Jason Beisel said the county and city are installing signs to remind beachgoers to avoid the dunes.

He said there will be designated pathways through the dunes to allow people to cross over safely while preventing them from trampling on the dunes.

He said city crews are currently checking the parking lots in the Sunset Beach area to make sure they are ready to reopen as well. Many of these lots are made of a permeable surface and, with all the sand and heavy construction equipment on these lots during the past few weeks, the city wants to make sure the surfaces are in good repair and are stable.

"I want to thank the Pinellas County Commission and staff for funding and administering this emergency dune restoration project," said Treasure Island City Manager Amy Davis.

"The city was happy to partner as the boots on the ground to inform, educate and collect the necessary construction easements from property owners that enabled the project to move forward," she said. "It is amazing what can get accomplished when we all work together, and that is what it took to get this project completed.

She added the city's thanks to Pinellas County and its tourism bureau, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, for funding the project and restoring Sunset Beach's dunes system.

"The city would also like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time we all worked together to get Sunset Beach back to beautiful," she said.

Meanwhile, work is continuing on other impacted beaches in Pinellas Beaches. The county expects to spend about $20 million in "bed taxes" (the 6 percent surtax charged to visitors who stay overnight in hotels and other vacation accommodations in Pinellas County).

Related: $20M To Be Spent On Emergency Erosion Control At Pinellas Beaches

The county is restoring erosion damage along Pass-a-Grille in St. Pete Beach, Belleair Beach, Upham Beach in St. Pete Beach, and the north and south zones of Indian Rocks Beach.

All of the restoration work is slated to be completed by the end of December.

“We lost whole dunes, back to the parking lot in some areas,” said Bishop. “These dunes add a lot of added protection for our community, for the infrastructure, public infrastructure, the homes, they help to stop the storm surge. But, they don’t help do that if they are gone.”

The county faced an additional setback when four tornadoes with wind speeds of 80 to 115 mph struck Oldsmar, Dunedin-Clearwater, Trinity and Belleair on Oct. 12.

After shoring up the impacted ledges with truckloads of sand, native grasses (mostly sea oats) will be planted to hold the new dunes in place.

“We are planting four different native species of grasses,” said Pinellas County environmental specialist Lauren Doing. “We are hoping by planting this vegetation that it will provide that extra layer of stabilization," said Pinellas County environmental specialist Lauren Doing. "But, in order for the dunes to be able to protect beaches from wave energy, winds and storm surges, they must remain intact and stable.”