As a gulf front property owner on Fort Myers Beach, I have been following the Beach Renourishment discussion for the past 10 years, much of it by reading your newspaper. It appears that this project is entering a critical stage as to whether it will actually happen and clearly it is very controversial.

Unfortunately, I have never seen a clear and concise analysis of the issues of the project. Most newspaper accounts have been reports of public meetings or letters to the editor. I would suggest and ask that the paper prepare an objective article that clearly defines the issues of the project and paints an objective picture of what the result will be if the project is completed. Investigative journalism at its finest!

I have done a fair amount of research over the years and have formed my own conclusions, however, an objective account would greatly assist beach residents and gulf front property owners in forming their own opinions.

I would offer a summary of the questions and observations: Do the general public and affected property owners really understand what dunes and beach renourishment look like? I would ask that the newspaper publish a series of pictures of renderings of the resulting beach and dunes as well as actual pictures of dunes and the width of a renourished beach in other areas. Natural Accretion has been occurring at a rather fast rate on the South End of Fort Myers Beach. Twenty years ago the area along Gulf Rd had a beach similar to Aberdeen Street. Since then, natural sand has been deposited in great amounts and dunes have formed in front of most of the homes. It is my understanding that the proposed project will create a beach that looks much like the Gulf Road. People should look at that area of the beach and determine if that is what they want the entire beach on the island to become. For out of town property owners, newspaper pictures of the area would be helpful.

n On many beaches with dunes, access to the beach is limited to specified and controlled walkways through the dunes. Will that be the case on Ft. Myers Beach if dunes are built?

n After considering all of the above factors, do the residents and beach front property owners really desire a beach similar to the beach by Gulf Road?

n Most reports from public meetings seem to indicate that the county and town assumes that everyone favors a very wide beach and it is only the easement issue that is stopping the project. Is this a correct assumption or are property owners not granting the easements because they like the historic character of the existing beach where their homes are close to the water and not tucked behind dunes?

It would be helpful to the public if success and failure stories of other beach renourishment projects were reported in the paper. For example, did the accretion of sand that totally eliminated Blind Pass between Sanibel and Captiva happen as a result of sand eroding from the beach renourishment project on Captiva?

Very little reporting has been given as to the impact of the establishment of an erosion control line which is part of the re-nourishment project. It is my understanding that this fixes the property owner’s seaward property line in perpetuity. Currently, the most seaward property lines are defined as the mean high tide line which moves as sand erodes and accretes. It seems that if beach renourishment is accomplished, the water line will move out substantially and make the beach front property line much further from the water. Is this something that beach front property owners can accept and support?

During the construction of re-nourishment projects, the beach will have many pieces of heavy equipment in operation as well as long, large tubes that transport sand from the offshore to the beach. Historically, these tubes prevent free walking access along the beach and the noise of the construction is disruptive to the enjoyment of the beach. How long will this disruption impact last? Furthermore, it has been publicly stated that renourishment will most likely have to be repeated every seven years or even more frequently depending on subsequent erosion. Are residents and property owners willing to put up with this disruption in return for the resulting wider beach?

Why doesn’t the newspaper contact and interview impacted residential beach front property owners to see what their concerns are. After all, without their easements, the project is apparently dead.

Sincerely

Ron Jones

Ft. Myers Beach