COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — The Beach Renourishment Project will replenish the sand on Park Shore, North Park Shore and Clam pass beaches in Naples by 2020. North Gulfshore Access closed Monday and Horizon access will close Saturday.
Mary Lundberg owns a condo near Horizon and walks there everyday. She said she’s lucky this beach is closing for the county to replenish it with sand, rather than respond to red tide.
“I’m more concerned about the red tide, than about anything else,” she said. “We love the beaches here. They’re always beautiful. So, whatever they have to do to make them be that way, I’m all for it.”
In their last board meeting Collier County Commissioners approved a $3.5 million contract to bring in sand from Stewart Mining in Immokalee. But Dennis Turner who visited Horizon Monday said they should just dredge sand from offshore like they’ve done in the past
“Where does the sand go when it washes away? It goes right out here (points to water). Why do they go drive to Immokalee with 50,000 dump truck loads when they got all the sand that they just put on a beach right out here?” he asked.
FGCU Geology Professor Michael Saverese said dredging would take away from an already diminishing supply and harm sea life.
“It’s a more environmentally sound alternative,” he said. “At least the sand that’s coming in isn’t disturbing the life that’s offshore.”
The deadline for the project is January 1, 2020, but the county said they could finish as early as Thanksgiving.
