Matthew's coastal bite was 'wake up call' for Flagler Beach residents

FLAGLER BEACH — If Hurricane Matthew had an upside, it would probably be a heightened public awareness about the importance of beach preservation.

It “really woke a lot of people up,” Flagler Beach Mayor Linda Provencher said Thursday during a City Commission workshop on beach erosion.

The well-attended meeting featured the findings of former Flagler Beach resident Chad Boda, who recently earned his doctoral degree at Sweden’s Lund University. Between 2013 and 2018, he made a comprehensive study of Flagler Beach’s erosion issues.

Boda, whose survey of city residents revealed a low level of community engagement in beach preservation prior to the 2016 storm, agreed with Provencher.

“There was almost nothing else that anybody was talking about after Matthew,” he said. “’What are we going to do about this dune problem?’”

In fact, after the storm, a large community effort to clear the beach of debris showcased that new awareness.

Community engagement was central to Boda’s suggestions for addressing the erosion problem. On Thursday, he asked rhetorically how the kind of involvement seen during the cleanup could be extended to dune planting efforts and daily monitoring of the dunes.

Another strategy Boda suggested is networking with other coastal cities to lobby the state for reforms. The goal is to shift the criteria for project approval from one based on a benefit-to-cost formula to one emphasizing the community’s priorities.

Currently, state and federal agencies have their own priorities, which govern their choice of solutions. For instance, the state Department of Transportation, which maintains State Road A1A, is most likely to employ rock revetments and seawalls as the best way to preserve the road.

“The focus on seawalls is something that becomes very problematic in terms of its environmental impacts and the likely repercussions that those have for the tourism industry,” said Boda.

That’s because seawalls generally cause a reduction in actual beach. And according to a 2013 Daytona State College study, 68 percent of those surveyed said they would not visit the city if it weren’t for the beach.

In fact, the propinquity of S.R. A1A contributes to the unique circumstances faced by Flagler Beach. And it is that quality that should enable the city to argue for unique solutions, Boda suggested.

A 2016 study by the state Department of Environmental Protection found that the city has 4.2 miles of critically eroded shoreline. Critical erosion refers to a recession of beach to such a degree that upland development, recreation, wildlife habitat or important cultural resources are threatened or lost.

To meet the challenge of erosion, Boda outlined various strategies but emphasized that “there is no silver bullet to this problem.”

Boda also briefly spoke on sea rise and recommended the city make plans for addressing the problem at each stage of its progression.