Sarasota County greenlights joint Manasota Key beach renourishment project with Charlotte County

SARASOTA COUNTY — Residents on Manasota Key who fear their homes could be washed away by the Gulf of Mexico will finally get the protection they desperately need for their properties.

The Sarasota County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a joint beach renourishment project with Charlotte County that would restore roughly 50 feet of sand to the shoreline on a four-mile stretch from Blind Pass Park in Sarasota County to Don Pedro-Knight Islands Beach in Charlotte County. The total cost of the joint project is estimated at $35.3 million. The Sarasota County side — extending from Blind Pass Park to the Charlotte County line and including 50 beachfront homes — has a projected price tag of roughly $8.1 million with the state expected to cover a portion of the cost. About 309,000 cubic yards of sand would be added to the beach in Sarasota County, county documents show.

The Charlotte County side of the project — which has already received approval from the jurisdiction’s commission — is expected to cost just more than $27 million, which includes potential contributions from the state and federal government, documents show. Roughly 879,000 cubic yards of sand would be used for the entire joint project. The sand would be taken from nearby offshore areas, with work expected to begin in November, Sarasota County officials said Tuesday.