THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502250034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Carl Fincke
DATELINE: AMELIA ISLAND, FLA. LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
EAT YOUR heart out, Sandbridge.
How would you like to have a 250-foot wide beach? It's easy - all you have to do is come up with $7.5 million.
That's what an association on this island in northeast Florida did, and now it has one of the East Coast's biggest sandboxes.
A year ago, the Atlantic Ocean was lapping at the door of Amelia Island Plantation. Several of the resort's structures were in danger - ``big time,'' said Dan Nolan of Amelia Island Management.
The resort moved swiftly to form a three-party association - property owners at Amelia Island Plantation, owners of other beachfront property in the area, and the Amelia Island Co., which operates the resort. The association went through channels to get a sand replenishment project approved, then set up a special taxing district, which was approved through a referendum. The $7.5 million will be paid over a seven-year span by the three members of the association.
For three months last spring and summer, 2.2 million cubic yards of sand were pumped from a ``borrow pit'' offshore onto the eroding beach. The project added more than 200 feet of width and raised the level 9 feet along 2.2 miles of oceanfront, 1.6 of the miles belonging to the resort.
How long will the new sand last?
``Under the specifications from coastal engineers, most beach re-nourishments are based on 10-year profiles,'' Nolan said. ``That means it should last 10 years, if we do nothing else. But we plan regular maintenance over that time.'' by CNB