The sands surrounding Marco Island’s Hideaway Beach have been washing out to sea for years, recently leading to the loss of the nearby Coconut Island.
Hideaway Beach’s special taxing district went before two councils Monday, the Collier County Tourist Development Council (TDC) and the Marco City Council, looking for direction and financial aid to address their beach erosion problem.
Hideaway Beach set up their special taxing district in 2004 to help pay for projects to keep their sand from sinking away. The problem is progressing more rapidly in the middle of Hideaway Beach with the loss of the buffer provided by Coconut Island.
In 2005 Hideaway Beach received tourist development dollars, which are collected through the “bed tax” on hotels and other tourist industry businesses, for several beach erosion controls or T-groins. They hoped the TDC would come to their aid again.
“We have hotels on Marco Island… All we ask is that the dollars generated on Marco Island be used on Marco Island,” said Bruce Henderson, a Hideaway Beach resident for over 20 years.
A motion for the TDC to recommend approval failed to gain a majority vote with a 4-4 split of the council.
The Marco City Council on the other hand unanimously approved the special taxing district to use $400,000 of their own funds for immediate, temporary emergency controls to protect the private road that leads into the residential area.
This is the only road to Hideaway Beach, leading some tourist development councilors and county staff to deem the beach effectively a private beach.
“Technically the public can access Hideaway Beach by walking from Tigertail Beach, but practically it just doesn’t happen. My position and the staff position is that public interest without public accessibility is inconsistent,” said Coastal Zone Management director Gary McAlpin.
The TDC voted 5-2 for a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners to investigate at least two questions before determining if Hideaway Beach should be granted the $1.6 million in tourist development tax dollars.
The project is estimated to cost $3.5 million. The special taxing district of Hideaway Beach agreed to pay $1.9 million toward the project and sought the remaining TDC funds for the remainder.
“The TDC fund is not here to protect property. It’s here to re-nourish beaches for the enjoyment of the public and tourists,” said Chairman Tom Henning.
TDC recommended county commissioners discover the initial intentions of the Commissioners who changed eligibility requirements in 2005 and also determine whether the TDC would be able to be reimbursed for the Hideaway Beach project if they received a Federal grant.
The first question was regarding the intentions of County Commissioners when they made changes to TDC fund requirements to include public best interest. The requirements also included a provision to allow for the continuation of existing projects and that eligible beaches must be within a half mile of a beach park facility.
Hideaway Beach has no public facility or parking. Other than residents, tour operators and other members of the public may access Hideaway by boat only.
Project engineer Ken Humiston of Humiston & Moore said that protecting Hideaway Beach will also protect Tigertail Beach and other areas of Marco Island that are indisputably in the public’s best interest because they have public access by foot, car and boat.
Councilor John Sorey said he believed the project needed to begin before the Federal grant is approved because the erosion is occurring so fast. If granted, the Federal funding may not be available for as long as one year, McAlpin said.
Hideaway Beach residents have argued that their request is actually a continuation of the approximate $5 million endeavor a couple years ago. Residents also argued that if Coconut Island had deteriorated at that time, the six requested T-groins currently requested would have been approved in addition to the 10 T-groins already installed three years ago.
McAlpin said the first project was “controversial” and a compromise was reached with a stipulation that “it was a one-time event.”
In a meeting last week, the Coastal Advisory Committee unanimously recommended the Board of County Commissioners approve the use of TDC funds for the project.
Nearly 12 Hideaway Beach residents attended the TDC meeting Monday and there were two presentations on behalf of the project, but these arguments did not convince the TDC that the project was eligible for TDC funds. However they didn’t rule it out either.
The only unanimous understanding was that the erosion was significant and that it could be controlled with T-groins. The point of contention remains as to whether protecting Hideaway Beach is in the best interest of the public.
“I believe it is the TDC’s responsibility to determine if a project can be legally funded by TDC funds,” Henning said of his reason for voting against the recommendation to move it forward to the County Commissioners.
“…But I’ll see it again anyway,” he added.
The Board of County Commissioners anticipates discussing the issue at a meeting in June.
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