St. Pete-Clearwater Sun

Pinellas County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a landmark agreement Friday, ending a nearly eight-year standoff over federal funding for beach renourishment projects along the county’s coastline.

The dispute dates to 2018, when the Army Corps began requiring all affected coastal homeowners to sign perpetual easements as a condition of federal cost-sharing. Because obtaining permanent land rights from every property owner proved difficult, the agency halted its federal funding contributions.

Under the newly signed agreement, local governments can now pass ordinances guaranteeing public beach access to satisfy federal requirements, removing the previous demand for individual property owner signatures.

In the years since federal funding dried up, local officials spent more than $100 million from the county’s tourist development tax to independently repair shorelines damaged by hurricanes.

Officials say the stakes are significant. Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters noted that beaches provide critical storm protection for coastal communities and underpin the county’s $11 billion tourism industry. Federal officials emphasized that the sandy shorelines function similarly to river levees, shielding both coastal and inland areas from storm surge produced by hurricanes.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who participated in the signing ceremony, said homeowners will no longer be required to surrender private property rights, and that the Army Corps is committed to working with local leaders on a solution. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam R. Telle said the key policy shift was recognizing that guaranteed public beach access fulfills the federal requirement for a perpetual easement.

The exact federal cost-sharing percentage under the new framework has not yet been announced. Prior to 2018, the Army Corps historically covered 65% of renourishment costs. County commissioners plan to initiate beach renourishment operations within the next six years using the restored federal partnership.

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