• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Flagler County Tries to Buy More Time in Dunes Easement Dispute in Face of Army Corps’ Eroding Patience

February 14, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

A segment of the dunes to be rebuilt by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project, at the south end of Flagler Beach. (© FlaglerLive)
A segment of the dunes to be rebuilt by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project, at the south end of Flagler Beach. (© FlaglerLive)

Faced with an ultimatum from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Flagler County government has outlined a timeline to the federal agency that it hopes will buy it more time before the Corps redirects $17 million earmarked for dune reconstruction in Flagler Beach. Once that money is redirected, there’s no telling when it may be re-appropriated for use in Flagler. The Corps has been indulgent so far, extending the deadline previously.




The timeline would have the county sue two property owners by May 2 for eminent domain, with a court judgment sought by late November. Only by January 2023 would the Corps be able to bid out and start construction on the $25 million dunes-reconstruction project the federal government agreed to pay for in 2017. Flagler County was responsible for the balance of the money outside the federal appropriation. It secured state dollars.

On Jan. 6 the Jacksonville-based District Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent Flagler County government the ultimatum regarding the long-delayed project to rebuild 2.6 miles of dunes in Flagler Beach: “If the County is unable to demonstrate that the needed real estate will be acquired within a reasonable amount of time, whether voluntarily or by eminent domain, the Corps may need to consider whether the project should be placed in a deferred status,” Col. James L. Booth wrote.

Booth was referring to the 141 easements the Corps needs signed from all the property owners whose portions of dune “remnants” on the east side of State Road A1A includes areas the Corps needs to rebuild the dunes. Without those easements, the Corps can’t proceed with the plan to dump upward of 550,000 cubic yards of dredged sand on the beach. The Corps has been seeking those easements since October 2018 “to minimize the risk of delays to constructing the project.”




The county secured 138 easements in the nearly three and a half years since. But two owners have yet to sign easements for three remnants. The county is threatening–and now promising–eminent domain proceedings to “take” the easements (not the land: no land is being acquired, or taken, by any government, only the authority of working on the land is being secured.) So far the two owners are still not signing.

Booth gave the county a Feb. 11 deadline for what he termed an “update.”

The county has been threatening eminent domain action since October 2020, but while still focusing on securing the easements voluntarily. Why the delays? “Petitioning the courts for eminent domain was not an option during the time of the COVID pandemic when court schedules were substantially stalled and the volume of cases we would have needed to initiate were substantial,” Hadeed wrote the Corps. “As if to add to our burdens, the same pandemic complicated our efforts to have easements signed and for in-person meetings to further educate owners.”




The threats were nevertheless part of the strategy. If that didn’t work, then the county would move to the next step. County Attorney Al Hadeed emailed Flagler Beach City officials last month to inform them that this time, the suits would proceed. Hadeed didn’t say when.

But the filing of the suit was not quite imminent. Several steps, “pre-suit requirements,” must be taken first. That explanation was part of Hadeed’s letter to Booth.

For example, even though the county commission has authorized eminent domain proceedings regarding the two owners, surveys are to be completed (they have been) and appraisals of the property certified by March 1. On March 7, the county commission is expected to approve a resolution approving the amount of money to be spent in the proceedings. “This also confirms that the County only intends to “take” the right to repair and renourish the beaches and is not seeking ownership of the dune remnants,” Hadeed wrote Booth.

By law, the county must then make a written offer of monetary compensation to the two owners, even though most of the other owners ceded the land voluntarily. A fund-raising effort led by Flagler Beach residents made money available to earlier holdouts. Some took the money. But those were private transactions. The two owners will get more opportunities to negotiate based on the amount of money the county is prepared to offer them. “The County has been quite transparent and clear about what it is able to do and not do for the owners,” Hadeed wrote.

Only then, on May 2, would the county file the pleadings with the court–the actual law suit, along with a show cause order that would set a date for the so-called “quick take” hearing. That will take place between May 2 and September 12, depending on the court’s calendar. The judge is expected to be Circuit Court Judge Terence Perkins, who would then presumably rule by Nov. 21. Even then, the court will have 20 days to remit the funds for the taking (the county doesn’t do so directly to the property owners). The funds are from those the county commission will have approved. The county will then get the lands certifications for the three parcels in question, by Dec. 30.




One more complication. The county got a lease from the Department of Interior to dredge sand from the sea floor some nine miles off shore for the project. But the lease was narrowly tailored for the project’s initial estimate of needed sand. Hadeed wrote booth that since then, storms have eroded yet more sand from the beach, requiring more than the original estimate to be dredged. That will require an amendment to the federal lease.

“We pledge our full efforts in bringing this to a prompt conclusion. Accordingly, we will apprise you of reaching each of the milestones as and when we complete them,” Hadeed wrote Booth.

County Attorney Al Hadeed’s Letter and Timeline to the Corps of Engineers (2022):

Click to access Letter-to-Colonel-Booth-Army-Corps-of-Engineers-dated-Feb-1.pdf

Click On:


  • Flagler's Officials Hope Congressman Mike Waltz Will Be Their Sandman as They Dredge for More Beach Dollars
  • An Inside Look at the Army Corps’ Beach Renourishment Along Flagler County’s Shore as It Nears Completion
  • Alarms Raised Over Beach Dredging Feared Close to Live Fishery Grounds, Endangering Soft Corals and Sea Life
  • Sea Level Rise Make Florida’s ‘Beach Renourishments’ More Frequent, Expensive and Vain
  • At ‘Monumental Groundbreaking’ for Beach-Rebuilding, Shovels of Praise, But Not a Word About Climate Change
  • $27 Million Contract Awarded as 9-Month Dredging to Rebuild Beach North and South of Pier Starts in Weeks
  • Some Hammock Residents Tell Flagler County: Tax Us for Beach Protection, and a Commissioner Sees Opportunity
  • In Sharp Retreat, Flagler Rejects Countywide Beach Tax to Focus on Barrier Island Only, and on Informing Public
  • Flagler Beach Demolishes Any County Plan To Make Barrier Island Pay Higher Tax for Beach Protection
  • Document: Analysis of Taxing District for Beach Management Plan
  • Document: Flagler County's Beach Management Study
  • For Flagler County, New Tax to Raise $7 Million a Year to Preserve Beaches Concedes Realities of Climate Change
  • Flagler Seeks New Countywide Tax of Homes and Businesses for Beach Protection, But Cities’ Support Is Key
  • ‘We Have a Deal’: Dune Hold-Out in Flagler Beach Concedes, Clearing Path to Renourishment
  • Flagler County Accuses Dune Hold-Out of ‘Bad Faith’ and ‘Abomination,’ and Wants Property Seized
  • In Stunning Revelation, Dune Hold-Out Had Filed for Bankruptcy–and Not Disclosed Parcels’ Value; County Now Has Leverage
  • Nicole’s Damage to A1A ‘Much Worse’ Than Matthew, Over Longer Stretch; Parts of Flagler Beach Flood
  • Catastrophic Loss: Dunes All But Gone Along Flagler’s 18-Mile Shore, Leaving A1A and Properties Dangerously Exposed
  • What About Flagler Beach’s One Hold-Out Against Dune Fix? County Says December Deadline Will Be Met.
  • Flagler Beach’s Tardy Dunes Project Is Down to a Single Holdout As Another Property Owner Signs Easement
  • Raising $40,000 in 40 Hours, Flagler Beach Residents Throw Down Greenback Gauntlet to Dunes Project Hold-Outs
  • Down to 11 Owners Holding Out, Army Corps May Decide on Aug. 19 Whether To Kill Dunes Project
  • 15 Years On, $25 Million In, Flagler Beach Dunes Project Near ‘Dead In the Water’ as 13 Property Owners Hold Out
  • ‘We’re Fighting For the Life of Flagler Beach’: County Urges Property Owners’ Cooperation in Beach Rebuilding
  • With Little Transparency, County Approves $250,000 to Redesignate 12 Miles of Dunes as ‘Preservation Facility’
  • Flagler About To Sign 50-Year, $100 Million Deal to Rebuild 2.6 Miles of Dunes in Flagler Beach. It Has Only a Fraction of the Money.
  • Many Questions Remain as County and City Approve $100 Million, 50-Year Beach-Protection Plan in Flagler Beach
  • Flagler’s Beach ‘Renourishment’ Is Exorbitant Futility
  • In Big Win For Flagler Beach, U.S. Army Corps Awards$17.5 Million, Reviving Dunes Project
  • How to Pay For Hurricane Irma’s Damages: Lawmakers (and Taxpayers) Face Billions in Costs
  • Painters Hill and Hammock Dunes Property Owners Will Pay Extra Tax for Erosion Control
  • Flagler County Walks Away From $35 Million In Beach-Repair Money: “It’s Them Abandoning Us”
  • In Boost To Flagler, Committee Approves Bills Including $50 Million a Year For Beach Repair
  • 12-Year Effort to “Renourish” Beaches All But Washes Out as County Urges Wall of Dunes Instead
  • U.S. Corps’ Cost to Rebuild 2.5 Miles of Beach: $39 Million and Up, Storms Not Included
  • Council Endorses Raising Flagler’s Tourism Tax to 5% to Pay For Beach Repairs
  • Florida Climate Change Compact and Sea Level Projections
  • Matthew and Irma Archives
Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robin says

    February 14, 2022 at 7:42 pm

    There is no excuse for this 18 month delay. It is the County’s reluctance to sue for eminent domain that will kill this beach enhancement project . God help us that we do not have a direct hurricane or another n’easter this year. If I owned oceanfront property and this project fails, I’d be selling.

    And then these property owners are going to be hit this year with huge insurance increases based on the new FEMA maps that came out this past October. When I asked County Officials if they had the new maps last fall, the reply was “No, FEMA had not sent them.”

    I discovered later that the local governments have to request them. SMH.

  2. Mark says

    February 14, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    Let the Army corps move on! It’s not in the books for flagler county! Let the waves wash the sand away taking what’s formally known as a1a with them. Use one of the other westwardly roads to take its place. I believe they are already set up for this, by leaving the home owners a nice dirt ally to access their property. Bye bye A1A

  3. ASF says

    February 14, 2022 at 8:47 pm

    Sue the hold-outs for any damage that might result from their selfish non-compliance.

  4. Rxx says

    February 14, 2022 at 11:30 pm

    ” The county is threatening–and now promising–eminent domain proceedings..”

    Then do it. At the end of the day, it’s not the homeowner’s property. If the state was building some highway or commercial plaza through their properties the land would have already been razed by now.

  5. Dennis says

    February 15, 2022 at 4:00 am

    It should have been done a long time ago! Was the county too busy trying to locate property to buy that was another white elephant, that was not needed?

  6. Concerned Citizen says

    February 15, 2022 at 7:44 am

    Actually the easements are the home owners property. It came with the purchase of the property. Sorry folks don’t like it that part of their property is on the beach side. This would be a non issue anywhere else.

  7. Concerned Citizen says

    February 15, 2022 at 7:44 am

    So Flagler County will have the easements taken care of but it will have taken them 5 years. There is no excuse for that kind of a delay. They should have sued for eminent domain years ago. And what about the rest of the county’s beach that has been devastated by storms and needs the same treatment as is planned for Flagler Beach. Why have they not even filed for the dredging permits yet. There is no excuse for these kinds of delays. Our homes will be washed into the ocean before this gets done.

    1
  8. Concerned Citizen says

    February 15, 2022 at 7:47 am

    Lot’s of folks advocating very easily that the County just come in and do what they want with someone else’s property.

    Just wondering how you would feel if it was yours?

  9. Skibum says

    February 15, 2022 at 9:32 am

    I know the wheels of government move slowly, but there really is no excuse for the extended, multiple year delay for such a critical project to protect one of Flagler County’s most precious assets. And that is especially true since we all saw exactly what happened to large portions of A1A when the force and fury of Hurricane Matthew roared ashore in 2016. Businesses and residents were disrupted and some completely uprooted for many months, and it cost millions of our tax dollars to repair the damage. No telling how much revenue was lost to the affected businesses. If the Army Corps of Engineers ends up re-directing the $17,000,000 that the federal government has allocated to Flagler Beach’s dune restoration project because of all of the local delays and inaction, we will pay a huge price in the long run and will have nobody to blame but the idiot hold-outs and to some extent, our local county leaders who should have been much more aggressive in obtaining the easements in court. I’m still holding my breath, but I’ve become so winded and exasperated just witnessing this debacle.

  10. Mark says

    February 15, 2022 at 10:15 am

    The homes were never yours but always the oceans. You can’t honestly build a home on a beach with rising sea levels and expect to have it there forever!? That would be a very uneducated thought and the homes on the ocean costs lots of money so im sure anyone living there has a brain and knew eventually they would lose their investment to Mother Nature.

  11. Jay Rhame says

    February 15, 2022 at 10:34 am

    The North end of Flagler Beach has problems too. Not only are the dunes in jeopardy of erosion from the ocean but also from cars parking on them. If you ride down A1A on a weekday morning when not many cars are parked along the beach you’ll see the encroachment on the dunes. It’s understandable that people want to be away from traffic but in some places cars could park two abreast and not be on any vegetation since it’s been slowly killed over the years by people parking just a little farther away from the road. There have been washouts at a few places but as the height of the dune gets worn down a little each year there will probably be more. A few signs warn of fines but they face west so are hard to see while driving down A1A. It would be nice if people would park just a little off A1A but I’m afraid that wont happen without some encouragement.

  12. Motherworry says

    February 17, 2022 at 12:30 pm

    A 6 page letter to say we haven’t done a damn thing! This has become a joke! These commissioners are like the Gong Show waiting room. Do your damn job! Go to court and get this done.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • FlaglerLive on John Thrasher, Who’d Represented Flagler County in the Senate and Led FSU, Dies at 81
  • FlaglerLive on ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Raid of Construction Site Near FSU
  • Pierre Tristam on Israel’s Catastrophic Starvation of Gaza’s Millions
  • Ann Walton on Flagler Beach Secures All FEMA Funds for New Pier, Construction of $14 Million Replacement Begins June 16
  • Mort on Answering Lawsuit, Palm Coast Accuses Mayor Norris of Frivolously Weaponizing Court Against Gambaro’s Legitimacy
  • Old Rumrunner on Sales Tax Cut Appears Dead as House and Senate Leaders Agree to More Limited Exemptions
  • Hazel the maid on Israel’s Catastrophic Starvation of Gaza’s Millions
  • Wow on Palm Coast Man, 55, Arrested on Felony Animal Cruelty Charge for Asphyxiating Dog That Attacked His Chihuahua
  • Dog Choke on Palm Coast Man, 55, Arrested on Felony Animal Cruelty Charge for Asphyxiating Dog That Attacked His Chihuahua
  • Ed P on ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Raid of Construction Site Near FSU
  • Joe D on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 31, 2025
  • Gary on Palm Coast Man, 55, Arrested on Felony Animal Cruelty Charge for Asphyxiating Dog That Attacked His Chihuahua
  • Sherry on Why the Far Right Fabricated the Myth of a Migrant ‘Invasion’
  • William Moya on Local Police Collaboration With ICE Undermines Public Safety
  • Marek on Local Police Collaboration With ICE Undermines Public Safety
  • Pogo on Local Police Collaboration With ICE Undermines Public Safety

Log in