Posted on February 11, 2025
Palm Beach needs to make an all-out effort to defend the merits of a dune-nourishment plan so that the project gets underway in time to prevent additional erosion to the town’s fragile southern coastline.
With only a short window of opportunity between now and March 1, when turtle nesting season begins, there is no time to waste. It won’t be easy, as Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach are at an impasse over the project.
Palm Beach needs to use the stretch of land connecting its coastline north and south of the Lake Worth Municipal Beach for sand-filled trucks to reach the beach south of the Lake Worth Pier.
While Lake Worth Beach initially had agreed to allow the project to proceed using a road on its property, a 2009 referendum that prohibits beach nourishment and dredging projects at the city’s beach was cited to upend that arrangement. The town had committed to donating $80,000 to Lake Worth Beach in exchange for the access.
Although the town could try to exercise its right to use its 10-foot-wide stretch along the coast, given the opposition by Lake Worth Beach officials and residents, that decision could land the town in court.
So what is the town to do?
The few options include a well-presented campaign to convince Lake Worth Beach and its residents that the dune-nourishment plan is vital not just to Palm Beach, but to the larger coastline. Without additional sand and a healthy dune system, erosion will continue, putting the shoreline, oceanfront buildings, the beach-dependent economy, and the turtles at risk.
The optics of a wealthy community pushing aside its neighbor’s refusal to provide access is less than ideal. Though, of course, the town would be within its rights to use the strip of land it owns for the project.
However, Lake Worth Beach voters made their thoughts clear in their 2009 referendum.
But this is a critical project, and town and city need to find a way forward.
Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach officials should discuss how the two communities can make the project work, perhaps by spreading the work over a longer period and using fewer trucks during the busy tourist season to minimize disruption, and reduce the risk of damage to the Lake Worth Pier. Lake Worth Beach officials have cited concerns about the pier as one of the reasons for their objections.
Palm Beach’s attorney is discussing the issue with Lake Worth Beach’s attorney to try to find a solution. That’s a good start.
But the clock is running out, at least for the immediate future. And, realistically, the project might have to be pushed to next season given the closing of the window within which it can be done.
It appears to us that the onus is on Palm Beach to do a superlative job of communicating to its neighbor why this project is vital and benefits everyone — as well as the turtles.
