Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/305631
association, Shoffstall continued, "my opin- ion is that since DEP approved this work I don't see why anyone on the beach who would want to do what the Ritz has done should not be able to also. I know of several properties that have requested from the DEP in the past to do some similar work and were unequivo- cally turned down." He added, "In 30 years of my construction career, wetlands, beaches, as well as man- groves were strictly OFF LIMITS. Only an act of God could get a permit to change something." PERMIT DETAILS In an April 9 letter to SLAB L.L.C., in care of Brett D. Moore of Humiston and Moore Engineers in Naples, S. Muthuswamy, an engi- neer with the Coastal Construction Control Line Program of DEP, wrote that the per- mit for the dune reconfiguration had been approved. However, construction could not commence until the firm complied with special condi- tions outlined with the permit, Muthuswamy pointed out. First, those conditions required a preconstruction conference at the site "among the contractor, the owner or authorized agent, and a staff representative of [DEP] to estab- lish an understanding among the parties as to the items specified in the special and general conditions of the permit." Muthuswamy directed Moore to contact Steve West, a department field inspector, to set up that conference. The letter included the other following spe- cial conditions: • "All excavated sand material is to remain on the site in the immediate vicinity of the existing dune." • "The reshaped dune shall be re-vegetated with sea oats or other dune stabilizing salt-resistant grassy or ground cover vege- tation prior to completion of the authorized work. Existing native dune vegetation shall be disturbed only to the minimum extent necessary." • "All imported fill material shall be com- patible with native sand both in grain size distribution and color." Sand sources also had to be free from clay, marl, cobble or construction debris. • "No construction, operation, transporta- tion or storage of equipment or materials is authorized seaward of the dune crest or rigid coastal structure in marine turtle nest- ing habitat during the marine turtle nesting season, May 1 through October 31." • "All debris and equipment associated with the dune restoration project or exposed due to recent erosion must be removed from the beach prior to May 1. The sandy area exposed by the landward relocation of the dune shall be kept free of obstructions that could interfere with nesting marine turtles or emerging hatchlings. This requirement shall apply during nighttime hours during the marine turtle nesting season May 1 through October 31." • "No additional permanent exterior lighting is authorized." Osterhoudt told the commissioners in his April 25 email that DEP staff had advised him that "if citizens are seeking more information about the FDEP permit, [the department rec- ommends] reaching directly out to the FDEP at (850) 245-7636." % Sarasota News Leader May 2, 2014 Page 50