Structure will be erected ‘immediately landward’ of existing seawall and rock revetment
With no one having signed up on April 22 to address the petition, and no presentation requested, the Sarasota County commissioners voted unanimously to approve a new, 227.5-foot-long vinyl, sheet pile seawall “immediately landward” of an existing concrete seawall and rock revetment at 4154 Higel Ave. on north Siesta Key.
The county staff report regarding the request for a Coastal Setback Variance pointed out that — if it won approval — the “proposed wall will further harden 121.5 feet of shoreline along Big Sarasota Pass …”
That report explained, “The proposed work requires a Coastal Setback Variance because it represents new construction that alters the existing design waterward of the [county’s 20-Year Pass Hazard Line], which is subject to the requirements of the [county’s] Coastal Setback Code.”
The new structure will stand a maximum of 63 feet waterward of the county’s 20-Year Pass Hazard Line, the April 22 agenda said.
“[S]everal neighboring properties to the north also contain seawalls and rock revetments for a distance of over 1,000 feet from the subject property,” the staff report continued. “The property immediately to the south is not hardened by a seawall or rock revetment, but the next several properties to the south are hardened with either a seawall or seawall and rock revetment combination,” it said. “Those properties include 4163 and 4173 Higel Avenue,” which were the subject of a Coastal Setback Variance public hearing before the County Commission on March 26, so similar repairs could be made.
The report did add, “No beach, dune, coastal hammock, mangrove, or seagrass habitat exists within the project area, and therefore, no impacts to these protected habitats are proposed.”
Moreover, another staff document pointed out, “There is no sandy beach or dune habitat at the subject site, so no impacts to sea turtle nesting habitat are anticipated.”
The petitioners were John and JoEllen McKenzie, the second staff document said. The records maintained by Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst and his staff show that the couple purchased the 50,807-square-foot parcel for $3.5 million in late February 2021. In 2024, the market value of the land and house totaled $4,631,000, those records also note.
The staff’s PowerPoint presentation regarding the proposed seawall, which was part of the commission’s April 22 agenda packet, explained, “The shoreline of the subject site has been hardened by a seawall and rock revetment since at least 1994 after approval of Coastal Setback Variance 79-03-91-185. … The existing concrete wall and rock revetment will remain.”
Further, that presentation said, “The existing seawall cap is at an elevation of 2.9 feet and the proposed concrete cap will be at 4.5 feet, resulting in the new wall being 1.6 feet higher than the existing wall.”
That presentation also pointed out, “Unauthorized rocks located waterward of the [Pass Hazard Line] are required to be removed.”
The staff report did note that the Big Pass shoreline on Siesta Key was designated a “critically eroded inlet shoreline area” in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s 2024 report titled Critically Eroded Beaches in Florida.
The April 22 public hearing was listed as a Presentation Upon Request, meaning that staff anticipated it would be non-controversial. Still, any commissioner can call for a presentation about the facts, and members of the public are allowed to offer comments when hearings have that designation.
Commissioner Mark Smith, who lives on Siesta Key, made the motion to approve the Coastal Setback Variance, and Commissioner Ron Cutsinger seconded it. With no comments, the motion passed 5-0.