1998 Florida Code
TITLE XI COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
Chapter 161 Beach And Shore Preservation  
PART I REGULATION OF CONSTRUCTION, RECONSTRUCTION, AND OTHER PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (ss. 161.011-161.212)
161.161   Procedure for approval of projects.

161.161  Procedure for approval of projects.--

(1)  The division shall develop and maintain a comprehensive long-term management plan for the restoration of the state's critically eroding beaches. The beach management plan shall:

(a)  Address long-term solutions to the problem of critically eroding beaches in this state.

(b)  Evaluate each improved coastal beach inlet and determine whether the inlet is a significant cause of beach erosion. With respect to each inlet determined to be a significant cause of beach erosion, the plan must include:

1.  The extent to which such inlet causes beach erosion and recommendations to mitigate the erosive impact of the inlet, including, but not limited to, recommendations regarding inlet sediment bypassing; modifications to channel dredging, jetty design, and disposal of spoil material; establishment of feeder beaches; and beach restoration and beach renourishment; and

2.  Cost estimates necessary to take inlet corrective measures and recommendations regarding cost sharing among the beneficiaries of such inlet.

(c)  Specify design criteria for beach restoration and beach renourishment projects, including, but not limited to:

1.  Dune elevation and width and revegetation and stabilization requirements; and

2.  Beach profile.

(d)  Evaluate the establishment of feeder beaches as an alternative to direct beach restoration and recommend the location of such feeder beaches and the source of beach-compatible sand.

(e)  Identify causes of shoreline erosion and change, calculate erosion rates, and project long-term erosion for all major beach and dune systems by surveys and profiles.

(f)  Identify shoreline development and degree of density and assess impacts of development and shoreline protective structures on shoreline change and erosion.

(g)  Identify short-term and long-term economic costs and benefits of beaches, including recreational value to user groups, tax base, revenues generated, and beach acquisition and maintenance costs.

(h)  Study dune and vegetation conditions.

(i)  Identify beach areas used by marine turtles and develop strategies for protection of the turtles and their nests and nesting locations.

(j)  Identify alternative management responses to preserve undeveloped beach and dune systems, to restore damaged beach and dune systems, and to prevent inappropriate development and redevelopment on migrating beaches, and consider beach restoration and renourishment, armoring, relocation and abandonment, dune and vegetation restoration, and acquisition.

(k)  Establish criteria, including costs and specific implementation actions, for alternative management techniques.

(l)  Select and recommend appropriate management measures for all of the state's sandy beaches in a beach management program.

(m)  Establish a list of beach restoration and beach renourishment projects, arranged in order of priority, and the funding levels needed for such projects.

The beach management plan may be prepared at the regional level based upon areas of greatest need and probable federal funding. Such regional plans shall be components of the statewide beach management plan and shall serve as the basis for state funding decisions upon approval in accordance with chapter 86-138, Laws of Florida. In accordance with a schedule established for the submission of regional plans by the department, any completed plan must be submitted to the secretary of the department for approval no later than March 1 of each year. These regional plans shall include, but shall not be limited to, recommendations of appropriate funding mechanisms for implementing projects in the beach management plan, giving consideration to the use of single-county and multicounty taxing districts or other revenue generation measures by state and local governments and the private sector. Prior to presenting the plan to the secretary of the department, the department shall hold a public meeting in the areas for which the plan is prepared. The plan submission schedule shall be submitted to the secretary for approval. Any revisions to such schedule must be approved in like manner.

(2)  In establishing the recommended list of restoration and renourishment projects described in subsection (1), the division shall consider and balance the following criteria:

(a)  The estimated demand user-occasions that would be served by increased beach area;

(b)  The extent of existing and threatened damage to property from beach erosion;

(c)  The prospect for long-term success of the restoration or renourishment project, as measured by the anticipated amount and frequency of future renourishment;

(d)  The location of the beach relative to the statewide effort to control the erosion of the beaches;

(e)  The total anticipated costs of the project, including the costs for restoration and for periodic renourishment;

(f)  The proximity of an adequate source of beach-compatible sand;

(g)  The quality of the sand proposed to be used;

(h)  The degree of public access to the beach, including adequate vehicle parking or consolidated public access points, taking into account existing access points and local public access needs;

(i)  The extent of public support for the project;

(j)  The anticipated impact of the project on natural resources, including, but not limited to, impacts on coral, worm and rock reefs, submerged and emergent vegetation, fishing resources, and turtle nesting;

(k)  The extent to which the local governments in the area of the project have enacted ordinances or other regulations to protect sea turtles from the adverse effects of beachfront lighting.

The extent to which the foregoing criteria are addressed in a net positive manner shall result in a greater priority being assigned to those projects. In addition to consideration of criteria listed in this subsection, a project, in order to receive state funds, must provide for public access in substantial compliance with paragraph (h) and must provide for protection for those historically established habitats identified in paragraph (j) and for endangered and threatened species.

(3)  Upon approval of the beach management plan by the department, the secretary shall present to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairs of the legislative appropriations committees recommendations for funding of beach erosion control projects. Such recommendations, compiled by region, shall be presented to such members of the Legislature in the priority order specified in the plan and established pursuant to criteria contained in subsection (2) and s. 161.101(11).

(4)  Once a project is determined to be undertaken, a survey of all or part of the shoreline within the jurisdiction of the local government in which the beach is located shall be conducted in order to establish the area of beach to be protected by the project and locate an erosion control line. No provision of ss. 161.141-161.211 shall be construed as preventing a local government from participating in the funding of erosion control projects or surveys undertaken in accordance with the provisions of ss. 161.141-161.211. In lieu of conducting a survey, the board of trustees may accept and approve a survey as initiated, conducted, and submitted by the appropriate local government if said survey is made in conformity with the appropriate principles set forth in ss. 161.141-161.211.

(5)  Upon completion of the survey depicting the area of the beach erosion control project and the proposed location of the erosion control line, the board of trustees shall give notice of the survey and the date on which the board of trustees will hold a public hearing for the purpose of receiving evidence on the merits of the proposed project and, if approval is granted, of locating and establishing such requested erosion control line. Such notice shall be by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county or counties in which the proposed beach erosion control project shall be located not less than once a week for 3 consecutive weeks and by mailing copies of such notice by certified or registered mail to each riparian owner of record of upland property lying within 1,000 feet (radial distance) of the shoreline to be extended through construction of the proposed beach erosion control project, as his or her name and address appear upon the latest tax assessment roll, in order that any persons who have an interest in the beach erosion control project or in the location of such requested erosion control line can be present at such hearing to submit their views concerning necessity for the project and the precise location of the proposed erosion control line. Such notice shall be in addition to any notice requirement in chapter 120.

(6)  The board of trustees shall approve or disapprove the beach restoration or beach renourishment project as it affects sovereignty lands. If approval is granted, the secretary shall authorize the expenditure from legislative appropriations specifically provided for these purposes of the amount necessary to pay for up to 75 percent of the costs of the project, and the board of trustees shall establish the location of the erosion control line. In locating said line, the board of trustees shall be guided generally by the existing line of mean high water, bearing in mind the requirements of proper engineering in the erosion control project, the extent to which erosion or avulsion has occurred, and the need to protect existing ownership of as much upland as is reasonably possible.

(7)  In no event shall the department undertake a beach restoration or beach renourishment project pursuant to chapter 86-138, Laws of Florida, where a local share is required without the approval of the local government or governments responsible for that local share.

(8)  The department shall adopt rules for reviewing and determining projects eligible for state funds.

History.--s. 3, ch. 70-276; s. 1, ch. 70-439; s. 23, ch. 78-95; s. 2, ch. 79-233; s. 9, ch. 86-138; s. 20, ch. 87-97; s. 29, ch. 94-356; s. 1440, ch. 95-147; s. 6, ch. 96-321; s. 3, ch. 96-371; s. 4, ch. 98-311.