Naples is considering a simpler, “Old Florida” design after rebuilding public beach accesses following Hurricane Ian only to have them damaged by hurricanes Helene and Milton in September and October.
Naples City Council on Nov. 7 approved a staff recommendation to proceed with a simpler design on 12 of 40 public beach-access areas: First, Fourth, Ninth, 10th, 11th 13th, 14th and 32nd Avenue South; and First, Third, Fourth and Seventh Avenue North.
“If we put all of them back out as we had intended with their original design, with the next storm surge … I’ll be placing another order to put new ones back out and it’ll be an ongoing cycle,” City Parks, Recreation and Facilities Director Chad Merritt told Council before the vote.
Hurricane Ian destroyed all city beach accesses, and over two years, city staff added temporary signs and worked to restore them so they could be used, Merritt wrote in a memo to Council, noting some accesses were permanently restored while most received temporary improvements.
After the county’s emergency berm project last year, adding dunes to protect against storm surge and flooding, city staff hired engineering and architectural firm GradyMinor to design and improve 31 accesses. Permitting began this summer and staff worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will reimburse some funds, to move forward.
But Hurricane Helene hit in September and Hurricane Milton the next month, leaving beach accesses filled with “mountains of sand” that reached three to four feet, Merritt told council, noting vegetation “took a beating” and contractors and staff are still working. Signs, 450-pound benches, trash cans and bike racks floated away with storm surge, which also wiped out improvements.
“Some of them have not been recovered and the temporary signage on most of the accesses are missing,” Merritt said, adding that only 10 of roughly 100 benches remain in usable condition.
Staff recommended that Council consider a simpler design for some accesses. Although GradyMinor’s design was more surge-resistant, staff was concerned after hurricanes Helene and Milton. If the city rebuilds all accesses with two concrete walkways, benches, trash cans, bike racks and showers, it could set the city up for more damage after future storms, so staff considered ways to scale back while maintaining beauty.
That includes “beach rules” signs, trash cans, bike racks and fewer concrete walkways, if any, to create an “old Florida” look that can be easily rebuilt. Some accesses would get more landscaping while others wouldn’t have benches.
Mayor Teresa Heitmann opposed eliminating benches. “Historically, that’s where people go,” Heitmann said. “They go and they sit on these benches.”
But she conceded after her six colleagues agreed the city needs to move forward quickly and improve resiliency, even if it means fewer benches.
Vice Mayor Terry Hutchison said the city needs to look at better-designed benches and discuss that and other plans with FEMA and the county Tourist Development Council, both of which provide funding. But Council member Ray Christman, who suggested simplifications at a past meeting, liked the idea and suggested more vegetation to protect against surge. Council member Barton agreed.
“We need to make a change,” Barton said. “We can’t go back to the way we were. We can’t have all these concrete pads. We need to pay attention to resiliency; we need to think about ways that we can maintain our beaches and the proper way to design these beach ends.”
The new design and project is expected to cost $2 million to $3 million, and staff will likely return to Council for contractor approval in January, with completion in about six months.
This story was published in The Naples Press on Nov. 15
