Florida Approves Third Phase of its Coastal Access Project

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The Florida Trustee Implementation Group approved the Phase V.3 Florida Coastal Access Project Final Restoration Plan and Supplemental Environmental Assessment (PDF, 56 pages), which selects one project at a total estimated cost of $2 million. The final plan selects the Navarre Beach Marine Park Addition recreational use project, which includes acquisition of a privately-owned coastal parcel of land within the existing county park property. This project will enhance the public’s access to the surrounding natural resources and increase recreational opportunities.

The final plan is consistent with the Trustees’ programmatic restoration plan and supplements the first and second phases of the Florida Coastal Access Project. The first phase of the project, described in the Phase V Early Restoration Plan, included acquisition and/or enhancement of four coastal parcels in the Florida Panhandle; the second phase, described in the Phase V.2 Restoration Plan, included acquisition and enhancement of recreational amenities at one coastal parcel also in the Florida Panhandle. The Florida Coastal Access Project addresses a portion of the lost recreational use in Florida caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The Florida Trustee Implementation Group released the Draft Phase V.3 Florida Coastal Access Project Restoration Plan and Supplemental Environmental Assessment for review and public comment on June 22, 2019, and held a public meeting on July 18, 2019 in Navarre. Links to the public meeting presentation and script, and a factsheet on the draft plan, are below.

Public comments were accepted until July 22, 2019. In the final plan, the Florida Trustee Implementation Group considered all public comments received on the Draft Plan, which informed the selection of the Navarre Beach Marine Park Addition project. A summary of the public comments received and the Florida Trustee Implementation Group’s responses to those comments are provided in Chapter 5 of the final plan.