It’s October and we should be getting underway with our beach renourishment program but some meddlers from Destin have filed a suit against FDEP preventing them from issuing our permits, so we have to wait to see what the judge will say. We were scheduled to have the hearing in Tallahassee today, but I received the following update late yesterday:
We have been advised that counsel for FDEP moved for, and was granted, a continuance of the DOAH hearing regarding the Nicholson petition and the issuance of our permit that had been set for tomorrow, Thursday, October 11th. The motion asked the hearing to be postponed until such time as the Florida Supreme Court renders their decision on the appeal of the ruling in the Save Our Beaches (Destin) matter. Otherwise the status of the Nicholson petition and its impact of continuing to delay the project remains unchanged.
We will continue to explore any possible avenues available to get the beach restoration underway as soon as possible. Although we all know how difficult it is at this time, please continue to have faith and patience. We’ve come so far as a community toward the realization of this project, and we are committed to continue to work on a solution that will bring our beach restoration to reality and get it done as quickly as we possibly can.
I’ll keep you posted as I hear of any further developments.