Beach officials decry turtle lighting notices

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Beach officials are bristling at a requirement that they notify people of turtle lighting ordinance violations even if they live outside the law’s jurisdiction.

During a Tourist Development Council meeting Tuesday, city officials protested a requirement within their beach nourishment permit that requires the notices. Mayor Mike Thomas said the city’s sea turtle lighting ordinance applies only to the south side of the Beach and insisted it was illogical to send notices outside that range.

“The turtle lighting has nothing to do with the north side of Panama City Beach,” he said. “It’s not good to spend money on things we don’t govern.”

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued the permit, which states all property owners must be notified if they have non-sea turtle-friendly lighting that can be seen from the renourished beach. If property owners are not in compliance, they will receive suggestions for correcting the lighting.

“The surveys and notices to all property owners of problematic lights must be completed throughout the entire nourished beach template,” DEP spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said. “The reason for this is that it is the permittee’s or local sponsor's responsibility to properly ensure the beach nourishment project does not adversely affect marine turtle nesting activities, whether within the local ordinance jurisdiction or not.”

The permit was issued Sept. 6, 2013, and will expire Sept. 6, 2028.

Philip “Griff” Griffitts of the TDC also said he had an issue with a required lighting survey because the DEP also wants it to be conducted within and outside of the ordinance area.

“If the survey includes the survey area, I’m OK,” he said. “But when we get outside of it, that is when I have a problem.”

The DEP permit mandates two lighting surveys be conducted for beach nourishment projects. The first survey must be conducted between May 1 and May 15, and the second must be done between July 15 and Aug. 1. The surveys must include information about visible lights and photo documentation. Each visible light source must include documentation that property owners have been notified of the problematic light source with suggestions for fixing the light, according to the permit guidelines.

All property owners with lights that are seen as a problem have to be notified of the issue and given recommendations for addressing the non-conforming lights, though there are no sanctions in place for those out of compliance.

Lisa Armbruster, an engineer at Sustainable Beaches LLC, said federal permit lighting survey requirements will be met and that the federal conditions don’t require property owner notifications. Local officials plan to request clarification of the state permit’s requirements — as a way to coordinate the permit conditions with local ordinances — after the first survey’s results.

The survey will include all visible lighting from the state and federal mandates, and notifications will be sent only to property owners on the south side of the beach who have violated the local ordinance. The north side of the beach won’t be included, Armbruster said. She said officials believe targeting lights that are in violation of the ordinances will curtail confusion from residents.

The DEP works with the state’s wildlife conservation agency and other agencies to ensure beach nourishment activities are performed in a manner that preserves wildlife, private properties and the beach, Miller said.

She said surveys are performed to ensure there is compliance with such safeguards as turtle lighting.