Taking A Look Back At 2008 Around The World
Feb 3, 2009 9:29 pm US/Eastern
Hollywood & Ft. Lauderdale Beaches Want Their Sand
HOLLYWOOD (CBS4) ―
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Tropical Storm Noel caused beach erosion along Ft. Lauderdale's famous beach.
CBS
Florida's beaches are too often paved with concrete and covered with condominiums. The disappearance of natural sand dunes and vegetation on our barrier islands creates erosion problems that only promise to get worse. That erosion also threatens the safety of coastal residents and undermines the chief attraction for our tourism driven economy.
Against that backdrop, Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale are engaged in a tug-of-war over our "white gold." We're talking sand. Parts of Hollywood Beach are down to thin strips of sand, overwhelmed at high tide by the incoming surf. A few miles to the north, much of Fort Lauderdale Beach is broad and inviting, a constant lure to our visitors.
Maggie Newman is visiting from England. She told CBS4's Michael Williams, "I like the beach. It is nice to have a beach you can walk in."
Back in Hollywood, Barry Sahl has watched the sand disappear for 32 winters now. The New England snowbird says, "You enjoy a big beach. Everybody enjoys a big beach. That is part of the vacation."
Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober is listening. He's trying to make sure his beach gets what much of Fort Lauderdale beach has in abundance--more sand. "The issue," Bober argues, "is trying to take sand that would otherwise flow south and make sure it comes to our beaches, plain and simple."
As it stands now, the Port Everglades jetty keeps nature from taking that course. On the drawing board for years though is a multi-million dollar construction plan called the "sand by-pass" project. It would reroute sand off Fort Lauderdale, essentially directing it south to a holding area, where it would eventually be deposited on Hollywood Beach. That's the plan, but Fort Lauderdale is now objecting to the idea.
The city's mayor, Jim Naugle, says "That sand coming off Fort Lauderdale beach could go back on Fort Lauderdale beach because we need it too." In short , Fort Lauderdale is saying "hands-off."
Hollywood officials, meanwhile, will press county leaders to maintain their commitment to the sand by-pass project. They don't want more scenes like the one near Alexander Towers. At high tide the ocean often laps against the seawall, and Mayor Bober calls that unacceptable. He says, "It is not an issue of us trying to take anyone else's sand, and it is not about protecting sand so people can get a tan and sip piña coladas. This is about protecting our ways of life and protecting our residents, which is our highest priority."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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