More profit at every opportunity

The manner in which we use our beaches has become big business in Collier County. What used to be an amenity for anyone visiting our area has now become a focal point for marketing new homes, all brought about by the lack of vision on the part of past elected officials. Under most circumstances, we have lost the ability to accommodate the needs of all residents to have beach access. Instead the future lay with exclusive access provided only to those who can pay for it.

Last week, the Collier County Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) voted unanimously to deny a private developer the ability to use an area of Keewayden Island for a private club tied to some exclusive upland residential projects. The theory behind this use says more about our beach access problems than the actual application of the use itself. In the past, developers sold their projects based on the on-site amenities they could create and potential buyers understood that living within such developments in Collier County also meant sunshine and gulf beaches.

That may have been true five or 10 years ago, but times are changing. We are growing and the result is that the few small parcels of land which have been acquired to provide for public beach access fall woefully short of the amount needed for the population that will end up living here. Buying a home in Collier County no longer means beach access, it means long lines of traffic, circulating parking lots, endlessly looking for an empty space and dealing with crowds at every limited access point.

Losing the prized amenity that launched the tourist migration here in the first place does not help real estate sales. Developers have been quick to realize that and are figuring out a way to turn such a negative into profit. Like everything else, selling beach access to a public beach has now become big business. Now a price tag is placed on what was thought to be a given right of all residents because our former political leaders cut too many private deals with waterfront land owners. This was done at the expense of future county residents even though there were laws in place that were supposed to protect our rights.

The new beach club concept has become a business worth tens of millions of dollars to land owners. Folks who are wealthy enough to buy million dollar homes see the value in adding to their homes the right of perpetual beach access - a right formerly afforded to the public but lost due to government incompetence. Gulf front land no longer needs to be developed with a high-rise to make millions, it simply can become a “club-a-minium” that involves less potential liability from condo commando groups and sells out at a higher price with less up-front costs. Tie such a use to an upland development and you have a group of folks anxious to buy.

There are some risks for these potential private access points and just such a reality played out at the EAC last week. One element will be needed no matter where beach access is applied and that will be to understand how impacts are handled from any real or perceived environmental damage to the beach system. In the case of barrier islands such as Keewayden, the burden of proof becomes a formidable exercise.

Keewayden is one of many barrier islands. How the use of these areas is handled will become a precedent setting action for the ever-growing population of Collier County. State law provides that beaches are public, yet we have to wonder, if the only way to get to a beach is through private land with huge price tags, was the intent of the law misleading?

Like affordable housing, maybe there needs to be a level of service for affordable beach access in Collier County.