SAND KEY, Florida — The Army Corps of Engineers in 2018 offered what some call a devil’s bargain to 461 property owners on this Gulf Coast barrier island.
All could sign “perpetual easement” contracts giving the Army Corps permission to pump taxpayer-subsidized sand onto their oceanfront beaches but effectively expanding the public beach onto their private property.
Or they could refuse and face a future with no federal assistance to rebuild any beaches — public or private — along one of Florida’s fastest-eroding shorelines.
More than half of Sand Key’s property owners refused to sign at the time, hoping the Army Corps would pocket its easement requirement and continue pumping sand under a longstanding federally authorized “beach nourishment” project.
