PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A beach nourishment project will get underway at Pass-a-Grille Beach this summer.
Just steps from the sandy shores of Pass-a-Grille Beach, you’ll find comfort in the food and drink at Paradise Grille.
“If we don’t have a beach, we don’t have any business,” said Mike DeMaio, the Director of Operations at Paradise Grille.
DeMaio has seen the impact beach erosion can have on business.
“It seems like each and every year, water is getting closer and closer and closer. Even with just some high tides and the right moon, we have water coming over the deck, the lower deck there,” said DeMaio. “On days like that, people aren’t coming around because the water’s right there. They want to be on the beach.”
We’ve shared several stories about this problem up and down Pinellas beaches, made even worse by strong storms.
“We need to replace this sand every ten years or so, or it will continue to erode back,” said Dr. John Bishop, the Pinellas County Coastal Management Coordinator.
Now help in the form of sand is on the way.
The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners allocated an additional $4.4 million Tuesday to fund a full beach nourishment project on Pass-a-Grille Beach this summer.
In the first phase, county leaders said between 10,000 and 15,000 cubic yards of sand from the Grand Canal project will be placed between 9th Avenue and 4th Avenue.
With phase two, the county said it’s looking for a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers to put an additional nearly 140,000 cubic yards of sand from Pass-a-Grille inlet between 22nd Avenue and 1st Avenue.
“Once it’s done, the beach is going to have a total width of about 165 feet,” said Bishop.
Dredging will start June 3rd and is anticipated to be done by the end of October.
Leaders said portions of the beach within the construction zone will be closed at times, while pier access will be closed for the duration of the project.
“This project really has to happen now,” said Bishop. “It may be peak season, but it’s also before the hurricane season, so we need to try to get as much protection out here as we can.”
It's important to know that Pass-a-Grille businesses will stay open.
“We know we’ll go through a little bit of, I don’t want to say tough times, but a little bit of maybe some slower sales because of the work being done, but in the long run, it’ll be so much worth it,” said DeMaio.
For more information on the project, click here.
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