VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Homeowners in Wilbur-By-The-Sea spoke directly to Volusia County officials Monday evening regarding storm repairs in the aftermath of Hurricane Nicole.
During the meeting inside the Wilbur Boathouse, residents expressed concern about the lack of a seawall at the county-owned beach access property.
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Clay Ervin, Volusia County’s Growth and Resource Management Director, said homeowners have a lot on their plate following Nicole and Hurricane Ian.
“What we are dealing with is once someone is down, they can’t get back up. It’s that simple. So what you are seeing from our perspective we have to keep in mind these are people’s homes, they are scared,” Ervin said.
Several beachside homes in Wilbur-by-the-Sea collapsed last week as Nicole ripped through the east coast of Florida, tearing out chunks of the coastline as it passed.
Kate Rose said her parents, brother and herself all own waterfront properties that have been significantly damaged from both storms.
“After Ian, we had had our sea walk began to be undermined because of the county property being opened. Their water came in, and our wall started to go,” Rose said.
Rose said she and other homeowners have been told they’ll need to pay about $300,000 to repair the sea walls and add reinforced sand. She’s concerned that without the county-owned property having a proper seawall, other seawalls nearby might be damaged, as well.
“So that even when we step up and we do what we have to do to repair our property, then in the further, we are not going to have this happen again,” Rose said.
Several homeowners also said they’ve received conflicting answers from state and county agencies. With costly out of pocket repairs, homeowners expressed concern repairs would have to be done a second time if they didn’t meet both state and county building codes.
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