Project to protect part of Palm Beach shoreline gets OK to move forward

A pilot project to bring a new environmental initiative to Palm Beach is moving forward.

The Town Council voted unanimously April 9 to approve a $157,000 contract with Applied Technology & Management to design a living shoreline of about 500 feet along the Lake Worth Lagoon on Palm Beach’s North End.

A living shoreline uses materials such as native vegetation and rocks to stabilize a shoreline, reducing erosion and providing additional habitat, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Palm Beach has discussed creating living shorelines to prevent erosion in places where the seawall may need to be replaced since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Danielle Moore said during the April 9 meeting.

This pilot project would run for about 500 feet along North Lake Trail, on the west side of the Palm Beach Country Club, said Paul Brazil, the town's director of Public Works.

A number of factors made that spot a good candidate, including a willing partner in the country club and the road’s higher elevation along that stretch, he said.

“We didn’t want to get a negative response with our first experiment,” Brazil said.

The Garden Club of Palm Beach’s members are excited about the project and eager to volunteer and assist, he added.

Brazil also noted that there is a “very expensive seawall” along Bradley Park’s Intracoastal border that will need to be replaced soon.

“A living shoreline there should effectively reduce the height of the new wall we’d have to build,” Brazil said.

Should the pilot succeed, private property owners could implement living shorelines along their own waterfronts, he said.

Seawalls are complicated, expensive and lengthy undertakings that can disrupt natural habitats and processes, actually exacerbating the effects of sea level rise, a 2022 United Nations report found.

The town is contractually obligated to maintain the area that will be the test case for Palm Beach’s living shoreline program, per an agreement with the country club that dates back eight decades, Town Manager Kirk Blouin said.

There has been erosion in that spot already, but it hasn’t warranted building a seawall, he said. The living shoreline should help protect the area.

“They’ve been great in not forcing our hand to do something more expensive,” Blouin said of the Palm Beach Country Club.

The project will be designed so that if a seawall does have to be installed, it will not disrupt the living shoreline, he said.

Council members shared their enthusiasm for seeing town staff find creative solutions for erosion along Palm Beach’s shores.

“I think this kind of project has other applications in town, so I’m happy we’re doing a test case,” Councilman Ted Cooney said.

When Cooney was growing up in Palm Beach, that spot was lined with Australian pines, he said. With those removed, the stretch has become “a barren, sandblasted place on your walk,” Cooney said.

“It’s totally an opportunity for improvement, both in our contribution to the habitat in the Lake Worth Lagoon, but also just from an aesthetic perspective,” he said.

When the project is designed, it will return to the council for review, Brazil said.

As part of the contract approved April 9, Applied Technology & Management will apply for the required state and federal permits that are necessary for the living shoreline to become reality, according to proposal documentation.

Palm Beach County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management has created several living shorelines along the west side of the Lake Worth Lagoon, including next to Bryant Park in Lake Worth Beach and extending north along the east side of the Lake Worth Beach Golf Club.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Living shoreline pilot project in Palm Beach moves forward