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Treasure Island residents split over beach raking

 
Some Treasure Island residents are upset that the city has cut back on raking the beach, resulting in a more natural look.
Some Treasure Island residents are upset that the city has cut back on raking the beach, resulting in a more natural look.
Published March 24, 2016

TREASURE ISLAND — Robert Burns hates the view from his eighth-floor condominium.

"It's a disgrace," the 40-year Treasure Island resident said. "We had a beautiful beach at one time. Now it's just junk."

The Treasure Sands resident and others don't like the fact that the city has modified its beach raking schedule in accordance with state guidelines aimed at protecting the dune system on the wide, sugar-sand beachfront.

"We used to have four or five mounds out there and now as the city has stopped raking. It's gotten worse and worse," Burns said.

Others like Sunset Beach resident Mel Lenehan have complained to the City Commission that the lack of raking has attracted wildlife like snakes, bugs and raccoons.

"It's just a bunch of trash-type grass," she said.

Lenehan thinks the lack of raking might be responsible for the city not making the Top 10 list of most attractive beaches.

She doesn't think it has impacted tourism but adds, "It doesn't make it more inviting" for beachgoers.

Mike Helfrich, the city's public works director, says the city is following directions from the state Department of Environmental Protection in maintaining the beaches.

Raking is done from the water line to 150 feet eastward but stops 10 feet from dunes, he said. The city does create 40- to 50-foot wide trails by raking to allow beachgoers a way to get to the gulf.

"The dune system is there so we will have wildlife if it's operating correctly," Helfrich said. "Raking won't help control wildlife."

Not raking near the dunes allows them to continue to grow which is what state officials and environmentalists want. But that often puts them at odds with residents who prefer a more pristine look without the sandspurs and grass.

A lawsuit brought by three hotel owners who contended that driving and parking vehicles on the beach has damaged it also has caused the city to use more caution in its raking operation.

"The lawsuit put the city on notice that we were damaging the wildlife in the dune system by our maintenance and driving on the beach," Helfrich said.

The city is appealing a judge's ruling and once the suit is settled there may be changes in the raking operation depending on the outcome, he said.

In a meeting with DEP officials recently, the city reviewed its current raking policy and received a new permit for the activity, Helfrich said.

But that doesn't stop complaints from longtime residents who are seeing less and less beach as the dune system grows.

"It has increased the complaints, we get them more now in this part of the season," he said. But he says others complain about too much raking.

"It depends on what you consider when you look at the beach," Helfrich said. "If you are an environmentalist and a naturalist, you applaud (dunes and wildlife.)