VIRGINIA BEACH
When Hazel Lawson and her husband built a tin-covered cottage in Chic's Beach 57 years ago, sprawling, grass-topped dunes and a canopy of oak trees separated their summer home from the ocean.
Now, her stone patio teeters on the edge of the beach, less than 50 feet from the water.
Hurricanes Floyd (1999) and Isabel (2003) each stole more than 30 feet of sand, and last week's nor'easter took away at least 25 additional feet, said Lawson's daughter and next-door neighbor, Sarah Houck. One more storm, and Houck fears her childhood home will also be lost.
If another storm comes, she'll also face the heartbreaking decision of whether to move Lawson, who's now 99, a widow and blind, from the cottage. She lives by herself in the Lauderdale Avenue home, which is now covered in pale-yellow siding instead of tin.
"We don't want to take her out of the house," Houck said. "She knows where everything is in the house, and to put her in a different environment would be very difficult for her at her age."
The solution: beach replenishment, she said. For more than 10 years, some residents of Chic's Beach have wanted more sand brought in to buffer their homes from the ocean, but property easements, funding and other hurdles have stood in the way.
But now the need is dire, Houck said. "If we don't get beach replenishment, then the cottage is going to go with the next storm."
She's working with Stephen Michaels, who owns the property occupied by Alexander's on the Bay, to move beach replenishment forward. They met with the city's water resources engineer, Phill Roehrs, on Monday. Now they're trying to obtain easements from the community's roughly 85 beachfront property owners. So far, they said, about 25 have agreed to sign the documents, which would guarantee public access to the beach and allow the city to consider using public funds to place sand there.
Once they get easements from at least 60 percent of property owners, they'll present a proposal to the City Council, Michaels said. Part of Alexander's restaurant collapsed in the storm, along with most of the parking lot.
"If we had 50 feet of sand out here, we wouldn't have had the damage," he said. "This will really open people's eyes that sand replenishment is an ongoing thing if you live on the water."
But a beach replenishment project could be several years away, Roehrs said. It took 10 years to start the project currently dumping sand on Cape Henry's beaches, he said.
On Wednesday, Roehrs surveyed Chic's Beach and the beaches at Cape Henry and Ocean Park alongside officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It doesn't appear that they'll qualify for federal help, he said, although the city believes they should.
Roehrs said it's difficult to measure how much sand the beaches lost but called the dune erosion significant.
New dunes could come sooner for Chic's Beach if the City Council orders an emergency replenishment project, Roehrs said. But he said it's more likely that things will progress more slowly, like they did for Cape Henry.
That's not soon enough, Houck said. Her mother has terminal cancer and macular degeneration, an eye disorder. She began hospice care from her Chic's Beach cottage Wednesday.
For now, two watercolors on Lawson's entry way wall preserve her backyard the way it used to look, when there were still dunes and a rock garden outside her back door.
When last week's storm rolled away, it took the rock garden with it. Her husband built it before he died 20 years ago. Now instead of stone ledges, magnolia trees and a canopy of oaks, there's mostly just sand.
Houck hasn't had the heart to tell her mother her favorite place is gone.
"It's all gone," Houck said. "That was sad to see Dad's work go away. It was just a really sad day."
Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com
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Waste of tax dollars
Why fight nature? It's natural that the beach line changes, down the road nature might decide to build up the sand. Any sand that gets pumped up on the beach is going to just wash back out and we'll waste more of our tax dollars pumping more up. It would be interesting to find out how much of our tax dollars are wasted everyday on keeping the dredging operations going.
I think I read something
I think I read something somewhere in a book that has stood the test of ages that says it is a foolish man that builds his house upon the sand. If that is true, what does that imply about a system that works to keep it there?
If the city is going to put sand back then;
1 - allow all the city to use that portion of the beach
2 - place more than sand, jetties, wave fences, etc. to protect the sand.
3 - realize we are fighting the elements and we will not win every battle.
4 - realize when you've lost the battle and move on.
We might be able to slow it down, but you cannot stop it.
It says a lot
It says a lot when no private insurance company will insure homes from flood or storm damage in areas like Sandbridge anymore. They know there's too great a chance they'll lose money doing it. So who gets stuck picking up the bill? The American taxpayers. If people are going to build out in areas like Sandbridge or next to shorelines that are prone to erosion or on any flood plains, they should be the ones taking ALL the responsibility instead of sticking those of us who don't build in such areas.
Sandbridge is actually a good example.
Actually, Sandbridge is a good example of how a special tax district taxing only the affected homeowners has resulted in increased property values, and thus a larger tax base for VA Beach. See, Sandbridge was losing a few homes a year to the sea in the 1990s, And it was difficult to get insurance, so as a result, nobody invested in improving homes there. They were run down and falling apart. Sandbridge residents several years took a bold step in allowing a special fund to be created supported by additional taxes only they pay, which were used to replenish the beach a few times. The result: a wider beach for the public to enjoy, no more homes falling into the ocean, and homeowners are reinvesting their money in these properties, creating and sustaining numerous service jobs as well as bringing tourism money and taxes to the beach. Insurance is now available, and this last storm did little damage to Sandbridge, despite it being worse than any of the 1990s storms by far.
MOVE
Yes, the rest of us would rather have somewhere to park and access OUR public beaches anyway. The entire city should NOT be paying to constantly try and protect wealthy peoples' income generating homes. Please, let their houses fall down and don't rebuild them!
Property Tax
How about comparing the property tax collected from the homes along the beach, to the cost of sand replenishing. That would take a little bit of research, but it may be an interesting comparison. How much is collected in 10 years, verses how much is spent on sand over the same period of time. It the tax doesn't cover it, raise the property tax in that area!
If the sand is not replenished, and the homes are lost to storms in the next few years, then the city looses that tax income. If the tax comes close to paying for the sand replenishing, then it's probably a good investment for the city.
How many times
have we read the same SAND story? No need to continue to waste OUR tax payer dollars (thus the government) to continue to replenish? No need to continue to feed the dead cow! I agree with other posts to implement barriers etc. Keep in mind that nothing will harness the wind. Noted also, the continuous change of the shoreline. Maps from previous years will certainly verify there is always change.
Norfolk-FEMA
Am I the only one who is bothered by waterfront property owners in Norfolk getting FEMA funds to raise their foundations? Grrr. At least the beach provides some pleasures for all citizens; your house on the Elizabeth River doesn't do much for me.
Actually, it probably makes more sense
to raise the foundations and keep the tax base high, because you only need to do this once, whereas the beach replenishment is very expensive and never ending.
Year after year, the sea reclaims coastal property and builds it elsewhere along the Atlantic seaboard.
And year after year, we clamor for more sand.
But either way, should we use taxpayer money to improve private property?
why dump uncontained sand?
Why do you want to keep putting sand down? Sand is inefficient and will just be eroded by wind and wave energy. Try a more permanent solution instead of one that requires ridiculous maintenance costs. Build bulkheads or use large stones to at least reduce the volume of sand required and reduce erosion. If you really want to protect oceanfront property, invest in artificial reef. We can reduce the wave energy hitting the shore, which will reduce erosion during storms (with a possible side benefit of producing better surfing conditions in the right locations, improving tourist revenue).
I TOTALLY agree...
with logoless.... If i were being forced in the rebuilding New Orleans, i would NOT want to pay for the rebuild of that city either. And i know my tax dollars are doing that as well. They live in a FISHBOWL , surrounded by water. I NEVER want to throw money at a place that will fill up again with water! Just as much as i HATE having my tax dollars used to replace, what mother nature is removing, OVER AND OVER again, in this location.
you are being forced into it
A federal court found the Army Corps of Engineers responsibile for much of the flooding in New Orleans. Damages could be in the billions. That's our federal tax dollars.
More tax money down the drain
Ok, you people are like the whiners that moved ext to a JET BASE and then complain there is too much noise. If you move to close to the ocean you will lose YOUR sand during a storm. So move or suck it up, I don’t need to speed my hard earned money to fix your crap either.
Read for
Read for yourself.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/05/sharpen-beachs-vision-transparency
http://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/Works-a-Beach-For-La-Contractor-During-Sandbridge-Reclamation/9203/
http://www.chesapeakebeach.org/Sand_Replenishment_at_Chesapeake_Beach_FAQs_Revised.pdf
And BTW, The term "we" used in your comment. Does that apply to everyone or just those who cannot read?
If you are refering to me...
The "we" I use is in the context of the citizens of Va Beach. I don't live on the beach myself but that does not mean I don't care about what happens to "our" beaches. Again get the emotion out of it!
It's a fact sea levels are rising and humans can
only delay the oceans reclamation. Storms only exacerbate the progression.
Where in the $84.4 million budget hole is this rabbit going to come from?
Jeanne's dad was indeed a wise man.
As somewhat of an analogy, how long have parents and grandparents been reading the fable of "The Three Little Pigs" to their children and grandchildren?
Keep building those homes on the sand adjacent to the ocean. Mother Nature will huff and puff and ... well, you know the rest of the story.
Missing the Point
Whether or not there are houses on the beach is irrelevant when it comes to storm resilience. What is relevant is the presence of protective dunes and adequate beach size. After Hurricane Isabel our shoreline and dunes were severely damaged and had not recovered. This storm dealt another hard blow. Most neighborhoods along the bay front cannot afford to pay for sand replenishment as it is done at the resort area. This replenishment is needed to preserve the beaches regardless of who lives there. And no, it is never a permanent solution, sand comes and goes and must be managed. Sorry for the lack of emotion and only facts, I know this is an emotional issue.
Beach FrontHomes
Back in 1968 I accompanied my dad (he was a builder) to Kabler & Riggs Realty at Sandbridge. Dad was searching for a lot to build our home. I was 13 years old at the time and was in awe of the big map on the wall depicting lots for sale. My dad told me to help him find a lot on the canal side. I spoke up and asked him to buy a lot on the ocean. He took me aside and explained to me how over time the ocean erodes and washes away everything in its path in one area and will then deposit the sand further down the beach (building up another area) - He told me it was not wise to build right next to the ocean and besides one day we would be oceanfront - Dad was a wise man!
The sand
Let's not rebuild New Orleans either while you oneway thinkers are chastising beach residents.Keep your comments positive.I am not independently wealthy, but i live at Sandbridge.Beach replenishment is a needed function today.Let there be sand.