THE SOUTH END of Lake Worth Beach’s popular public beach is about to be invaded by a fleet of dump trucks for a Palm Beach town renourishment project.
Starting Jan. 1, the sand-hauling trucks will access a 25-foot section in the busy city beach’s southern boundary for up to 45 days from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The town requested the new access spot on their neighboring municipality’s turf because Palm Beach condo owners don’t want to deal with the truck noise, congestion and vibrations.
In return, the town will donate $80,000 to Lake Worth Beach, money the city plans to spend on beach improvements, including repairs to wooden stairs to the beach north and south of the Lake Worth pier.
The project starts in the heart of tourist season, when the beaches are busiest, a necessary time-frame, officials said, because work is prohibited during sea turtle nesting season, which usually starts in March and lasts through October. Most of the beach south of the pier, closest to the access site, will remain open to the public.
Although city commissioners Dec. 3 voiced anonymous displeasure with the deal, they approved it on a 4-1 vote — in the spirit, they said, of being good municipal neighbors.
It might not be the last time the town asks. If the January 2025 project is deemed a success, Palm Beach officials said they will seek permission to use the site again for the next renourishment, usually done every eight years but sooner if beaches need repairing from hurricanes.
“I do feel that it's a huge inconvenience,” Commissioner Mimi May said before voting in favor. “If the people who live there didn’t want to have the inconvenience and it helps them, why should we?’’
Commissioner Chris McVoy was more harsh and suggested Palm Beach officials find a permanent access point in their town.
“Miss May was feeling a little uncomfortable. I think the term is ‘used’ and our city gets used quite a bit,’’ he said before casting the lone no vote. “There’s a fleeting feeling like, geez, if your own community doesn't want to deal with it, why on earth should we get bought off for $80,000?’’
The work is part of a larger renourishment project paid for by an $8 million FEMA grant for repairs from 2022 Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. The beaches along Lake Worth Beach and the two towns to the south, South Palm Beach and Lantana, will also benefit.
Beach renourishment projects entail collecting sand from the ocean offshore, piping it to a collection point onshore and distributing it to the beach.
For Palm Beach’s renourishment projects, the off-shore collection area is directly off the Lake Worth Pier, less than 100 yards from the south end of the city’s public beach. While that may be the shortest route, the town can’t get permits for barges to pipe the sand to the Palm Beach side because of environmental protections to the reef and seafloor.
Instead, the dredged sand is stockpiled about 1.5 miles north at Phipps Ocean Park in Palm Beach. From there, it’s trucked south to a beach access point.
Historically, the town has trucked sand from the Phipps Ocean Park stockpile nearly 3 miles south to an access point at 3360 S. Ocean Blvd. Condominium on the town’s southern boundary with South Palm Beach. But those residents no longer want to deal with the hassle.
“We have more than overstayed our welcome,’’ Palm Beach Public Works Director Paul Brazil told the Palm Beach Town Council on July 9. “They have had an unfair burden for many years as the access to get in and out and they have said they do not want to participate anymore, and I cannot blame them at all.’’
Instead of finding another access point in Palm Beach, town officials decided to reach out to Lake Worth Beach.
“We have asked Lake Worth, who in the past didn't want to work with us on beach renourishment projects,’’ Brazil said. “They have new staff in place. Some of their commission is new. We approached them and asked them, ‘Would they consider it?’’’
City commissioners knew their staff had been negotiating. But they apparently didn’t know why the previous access point was no longer an option until the town engineer mentioned it Dec. 3 in response to a question from Mayor Betty Resch.
“We have done it several times going between condos,’’ Palm Beach Town Engineer Patricia Strayer replied. “I’ll be totally frank, it was more expensive than $80,000 to go between two condos because of what their demands were.’’
McVoy appeared incredulous when he heard that comment.
“And it was for their beach?” he asked Strayer.
“Yes,’’ she replied.
“In front of (their condos)?”
“Yes.”
‘“I’m voting no,’’ McVoy said. “That's pretty hard to hear, if they don't want to put enough money into it to make it possible for their own beach and inconvenience us. No, thanks.’’
Strayer pointed out that the access between the condos is “a much narrower area,” not an actual road and not meant to accommodate heavy equipment.
Commissioners understood that point, knowing the anxiety of oceanfront condo dwellers since the Surfside condo collapse in 2021.
But they still weren’t happy with the idea of being thrown an $80,000 donation so condo residents in Palm Beach won’t be inconvenienced by a project, paid for with federal money, that will directly benefit those condo residents.
“This is a hard thing for us. This is going to impose on our beach. Visually, it’s not going to be pretty,’’ Resch said to Strayer. “It’s going to be giant trucks with loads of sand.’’
Strayer said the town is already “mobilizing” to start and finish the project “as soon as possible.’’ Dredging and trucking contracts have been awarded. Pipes have been set up in the parking lot at Phipps Ocean Park, ready to be assembled.
“We will begin any day now to start pumping sand onto Phipps Ocean (Park). Then we have to stockpile enough sand to truck it down. As soon as we get enough sand stockpiled, we can start the trucking,’’ she said.
Here’s how the project will affect Lake Worth Beach’s public beach once trucks loaded with sand from Phipps Ocean Park head south on A1A:
Trucks will enter the southernmost entrance of the city beach and head east over a ramp that will be built up and over the dune.
Those trucks will dump the sand on the beach immediately south of the Lake Worth Beach border, in front of the Bellaria Condominiums in the town of Palm Beach.
Smaller off-road vehicles will then carry the sand south to the beach renourishment spots.
The south entrance road will stay open to beach-going motorists. Traffic barricades and flag persons will direct the trucks away from motorists.
Officials said the traffic circle on the east end of the southern entrance will not be affected; the dune access spot will be just south of the circle.
When the project is done, the dunes and access area will be restored by the town to the same or better condition.
Active work on the beach will be completed by March 2025.
“This isn't ‘the sky is falling.’ This is us helping a neighborly city. And I honestly don’t think it's a really big deal,’’ Commissioner Sarah Malega said.
She also offered Strayer a warning: “If it goes bad, we’ll never have this conversation again.’’
The operation will affect the beach south of the pier and the Benny's on the Beach restaurant. Though city officials said most of that part of the beach will remain open to the public in January, it won't be a pretty site.
“You are going to be sitting at Benny’s having coffee in the morning and you are going to be watching trucks come and dump a big pile of sand all day,’’ resident Susan Ona told commissioners Dec. 3.
“Then the little trucks will take it down the beach. We will have constant back and forth of trucks right on our beach. It's really sad we are letting this happen. Three years from now they'll be asking us to do it again.’’
After the commission approved the deal, at least one angry person in the audience yelled out in opposition, prompting Malega to ask the assistant city manager to escort Strayer to her car.
At the July 9 Palm Beach Town Council meeting, officials expressed hope Lake Worth Beach will grant access for future renourishment projects. But Council Member Bridget Moran said she hoped the town won’t have to make a donation to the city every time it asks for beach access.
Town Manager Kirk Blouin said he didn't believe the town would have to give another donation since Lake Worth benefits from the town’s beach nourishment projects.
After voting to approve the $80,000 donation, the town mayor and council members took turns at the July meeting thanking Lake Worth Beach leaders for their cooperation.
“I think this is a win-win, certainly for 3360,’’ Mayor Danielle Moore said, referring to the town condo that had been used as the previous access point.
Council Member Lew Crampton thanked the town condo residents “who have put up with tens of thousands of trucks filled with sand going through their parking lot, over their seawall and down onto the beach. It’s been a major impact on their quality of life.’’
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About the author
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, the birth of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. View all posts by Joe Capozzi.