ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – With the ongoing risk of beach erosion as hurricane season begins, News4JAX went back to check out Summer Haven, an area of St. Johns County that’s been hit hard in recent years.
A recent study listed several multi-million dollar preventative solutions.
Old A1A is still being built back up after it was washed out in 2022. Some of the crew said they have been working on that for some time.
Meanwhile, Angela Pate and Denise Cochran have formed a coalition to save and preserve Summer Haven.
“Having a coalition shows that you have one voice, you know, unified position, that people all have the same interests at heart,” Cochran said.
They call themselves “SHRC”, the Summer Haven Resiliency Coalition.
They said they want to not only save the eroding beaches and threatened homes, but preserve the community as a whole.
Last year, St. Johns County Commissioners released the findings of a study done by a Texas-based company that suggested three main courses of action.
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- Seawall: The 14-foot seawall with pilings 20 feet apart, stretching for 5,500 feet. The construction cost would be $47 million with $12 million for maintenance over 50 years, totaling $59 million
- Beach renourishment and dune restoration: This involved raising the beach and dunes to a height of 14 feet over a stretch of 9,000 feet. This project would cost $34 million and $87 million for maintenance over 50 years, making the total $121 million. However, 50% of the dunes would be washed away in five years, so the county would need to do renourishment every five years.
- Managed Retreat: This option would involve buying out 20 beachside properties at a cost of $3 million.
News4JAX reached out to the County Commissioners Office Thursday but did not get any information on a final decision regarding those three options.
However, News4JAX observed what looked like a seawall currently being built right along the shore.
News4JAX also reached out to the Army Corps of Engineers, and we were told by a spokesperson that nourishment is being done along the coast in some areas, but there’s nothing in their plans involving Summer Haven.
The spokesperson also shared all the details of current projects and this statement about Summer Haven, which says:
“The USACE Jax District is intimately aware of critical shoreline conditions at Summer Haven and is in consultation with St. Johns County to conceive, design and execute a coastal storm risk management response for the benefit of the residents there, but there are presently no concrete plans.”
Cochran and Pate said they haven’t gotten word of any concrete plans either. But they said they are working alongside the county commission often and they feel like a plan the coalition came up with could be the solution.
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“What we think it will take, as non-engineers, are the beach renourishment that is done to extend the beach out from the storm damage that was done and dune to protect that a seawall, which is 35 feet down the ground with a two-foot cap on the top, and the dune goes over that, so you don’t even see it, and it doesn’t affect the wildlife, but it protects the movement of the sand,” Pate said.
Pate and Cochran said they have been meeting with county commissioners quarterly and that they have been very receptive and open to ideas.
They also said they have been holding public meetings and the coalition has hundreds of other members.