Pass application process slows to a crawl

By Jack Gurney
All the Midnight Pass restoration hoopla that once surrounded efforts to re-establish the coastal inlet between Siesta Key and Casey Key has died away, but the tedious application process for obtaining federal and state permits to dredge has not.

More than 2 ½ years have elapsed since Sarasota County consultant Karyn Erickson began a dialogue with the government authorities and scientists who will decide whether permits are issued, and the question-and-response drills continue unabated.

Next week, the coastal engineer will journey to Tallahassee again for another meeting with Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials, this time about sediment issues. She'll be accompanied by Spencer Anderson, a county project manager.

Next month, Erickson will forward a fifth round of answers to what the state calls RAIs, the acronym for "Requests for Additional Information." The county initially hoped there would be only three rounds of RAIs, but now accepts it was overly optimistic.

"We went through eight rounds of RAIs before receiving state permits for the South Siesta Key beach restoration project," Anderson said. "When the sediment issues are addressed we will turn to mitigation impacts and an inlet management plan."

Timetables for an actual Midnight Pass restoration project are hazy, at best. If everything goes without a hitch, the state could announce its intention to issue permits early next year. Or it could declare the RAI phase complete and summarily reject them.

"What could slow the process is legal challenges from project opponents if the state announces its intention to issue permits," Anderson said. "If there are no challenges, then we still have the Army Corps of Engineers to deal with. It is under no time constraints."

In a perfect world, a contract could be awarded for work to begin sometime next year. But reality dictates the RAI process, project challenges and permit dialogue with the Army Corps will probably extend into 2009. And then, maybe, work could be scheduled in 2010.

"We hope there won't be a lot more back-and-forth with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and it won't need any more information," Anderson said. "What we want is an announcement our permit application is complete, and a yes or no answer."

The estimated price tag for restoring Midnight Pass now stands at about $40 million - $10 million to remove the sand plus $1 million a year over 30 years to monitor and maintain a channel cut from Little Sarasota Bay into the Gulf of Mexico.

So far, there is no county funding plan for a restoration if permits are issued. A lengthy list of programs and infrastructure projects could proceed if voters approve a 15-year extension of the local option sales tax, but Midnight Pass isn't on it.

The popular coastal inlet became unstable in the 1970s and was closed in 1983 after it migrated northward and threatened to undermine two Siesta Key beachfront homes. It is now a narrow stretch of beach that connects Siesta Key with Casey Key.

In 1988, the county submitted a Midnight Pass restoration proposal that was denied by state authorities in 1991 after a permit process that went on for almost three years. A county appeal subsequently failed, but restoration advocates refused to quit.

In November 2004, Erickson mailed off permit applications to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Florida Department of Environmental Protection that describe how a dredging project could work to remove sand from the former inlet area and place it on nearby beaches.

Erickson was hired by Sarasota County after she successfully negotiated on behalf of New Hanover County, N.C., for federal and state permits to relocate and restore Mason Inlet without the use of seawalls, rocks or other hardened structures.


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