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To start, the state has determined that Perdido Key, in its entirety, is
in the Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA). The Florida Administrative Code (FAC)
requires counties in their comprehensive plans to “[d]irect population
concentrations away from known or predicted coastal high-hazard areas.”
Rule 9J-5.012(3)(b)(6), F.A.C. Furthermore,
local governments have an obligation to “limit public expenditures that
subsidize development permitted in coastal high-hazard areas.” Rule
9J-5.012(3)(b)5, F.A.C. This line, around the whole Key, has obvious
significance as we discuss and debate the planning for future growth and
construction on the Key.
The next designation or line is the sand, is the coastal construction
control line (CCCL). This is a more or less permanent line established by
the state which defines that “portion of the beach-dune system subject to
severe fluctuations which is based on a 100-year storm surge, storm waves,
or other predictable weather conditions” 62B-33.002 FAC. Construction
landward of this line does not require any special permit. Construction
seaward of the CCCL requires a permit from the state, which provides for
additional safeguards in the construction of structures due to the
additional hazards from the environment. This line, therefore, does not
limit construction; it only requires construction to meet higher, safer
standards.
The 50-foot setback line is a line used in conjunction with the CCCL “in
which construction is prohibited within 50 feet of the line of mean high
water at any riparian coastal location fronting the Gulf of Mexico or the
Atlantic coast shoreline” 62B-33.002 FAC. So, one can build seaward of the
CCCL to higher standards, but no closer than fifty feet from the mean high
tide line.
The mean high water line “is the average height of the high-waters over a
19-year period” 62B-33.002 FAC. In practice, licensed and certified
personnel obtain data from a specified tidal gauge in the area and then
project that data on to a map to find the mean high water line. The state
of Florida claims all land, surface and subsurface, seaward of the mean
high water to the limits of its territorial seas.
Riparian land owners, those people owning waterfront land, can gain or
lose land over time as they gain land through natural accretion or lose
land through natural erosion. Generally, land must be gained over a period
of time, imperceptibly, to be claimed by the riparian landowner; it can be
lost in a similar manner. Land lost or gained rapidly (avulsion), as in a
storm or by beach nourishment, does not necessarily change ownership.
The erosion control line is a line proposed to be established by FDEP. The
ECL is to be established at the mean high water line surveyed as of August
2007. Private property landward of the ECL will remain private property
and lands seaward remain state lands. The line will not move once it is
established per 161.141 Florida Statutes (FS). The benefit to be gained is
that once the line is established, the county will be eligible to apply
for federal and state (matching) funds to maintain and re-nourish the
beach. Depending on how a beach nourishment project will be funded, county
residents may be called upon to approve the expenditure of county funds
for the project.
While these lines in the sand have been established by the state; the
tides and winds are moving the island without regard to those lines. Storm
winds and tides have altered, and will continue changing the shape of the
island, causing significant changes to the lines in the sand. This latest
regulatory defined line in the sand points to the need for sound policies
and public involvement to ensure Perdido Key remains the paradise we all
call home.
Access to the Florida Administrative Code and Florida Statutes can be
found
here.
Click
here for Florida Statues
that explain what the state laws are regarding Erosion Control.
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