Conservationists challenge project at St. Simons’ Coast Guard Beach

Environmental advocates are pushing back against a project that plans to use state funds to add amenities to St. Simons’ Coast Guard Beach.

Glynn County qualified for a $3 million grant from the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program to pay for renovations at the popular beach site. The county plans to expand and improve the parking lot at the site, level a sand dune to install a beach volleyball court, remove trees and fill wetlands. 

Megan Desrosiers of One Hundred Miles said those activities don’t align with the intent Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act. 

“We feel like GOSA funds should not be used to build parking lots,” she said. “They should not be used to destroy maritime forests. They should not be used to level sand dunes, and they should not be used to fill wetlands. They should be used for conservation and not for a parking lot, volleyball court and bathroom construction.”

Georgia voters approved the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act as an amendment to the state constitution in 2018, with 83% approval. The question put to voters was:

“Without increasing the current state sales tax rate, shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to create the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund to conserve lands that protect drinking water sources and the water quality of rivers, lakes, and streams; to protect and conserve forests, fish, wildlife habitats, and state and local parks; and to provide opportunities for our children and families to play and enjoy the outdoors, by dedicating, subject to full public disclosure, up to 80 percent of the existing sales tax collected by sporting goods stores to such purposes without increasing the current state sales tax rate?”

An 11-member board chaired by Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon decides on annual GOSA grants based on a competitive application process. Grants are capped at $3 million and require a match. In its case, Glynn agreed to provide 60% of the project’s total $7.5 million. Of the dozen projects approved last year, only Glynn and the Trust for Public Land (for the Chattahoochee RiverLands Regional Trailhead project) received the maximum award.

Before it can begin construction, however, Glynn County must receive permission for the project from the Shore Protection Committee, an appointed five-person board that regulates alterations to the beach and dune areas. The committee is scheduled to hear Glynn’s permit application March 7. 

Soheila Naji, the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program Coordinator, said her program releases money only as reimbursements and it’s incumbent on the sponsor — in this case, Glynn County — to get the permits needed to move forward.

“Our program is a reimbursement program, so we need to see proof of work completed and proof of payment,” she said. “If they’re not able to get all the required permissions, I’m thinking that the construction cannot get started, so in that case, there’s nothing for us to reimburse.”

But in GOSA’s first six years, no project has been halted by regulatory obstacles, Naji said.

The vetting process at GOSA does include an environmental component.

“Wildlife Resources (Division) biologists do a thorough evaluation of the project and make some recommendations on how this project must progress in order to minimize the negative impact on the wildlife species and plants and everything,” Naji said. (Read the Wildlife Resources evaluation here.)

Coast Guard Beach is a popular destination, attracting 1,000 to 1,500 visitors a day in the summer months, Glynn County wrote in its GOSA application. It’s also the largest free beach access in the state, with no toll or parking fee collected at the site.

“This is despite the various challenges the Park currently experiences, including flooding, insufficient parking and restroom facility capacity, poor traffic flow, and limited recreational amenities, that limit its ability to adequately service the local community and visitors,” the application states.

Glynn’s application for the GOSA grant mentions increased accessibility for outdoor recreation including volleyball, but it doesn’t make it obvious that a dune will be leveled to create the volleyball court. 

The application for a Shore Protection Act permit, however, shows that the volleyball court requires about 1,600 square feet  – about the footprint of a small house – to be leveled at the base of a dune. 

The project also includes “clearing and replacement of vegetation, placement of sand fencing, (and) filling of approximately 0.024-acres of wetlands,” the application states. That is about 1,000 square feet of wetland, the size of a small apartment.

Along with One Hundred Miles, The Nature Conservancy is also monitoring how GOSA funds are being used.

“The Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program’s first priority is for conservation purposes, and we believe that funded projects should not result in the destruction or degradation of critical habitat such as protected wetlands, maritime forest and active beach dunes,” Executive Director Monica Thornton wrote in a prepared statement.

The project at Coast Guard Beach Park will include an Americans with Disabilities Act- compliant viewing platform and boardwalk, a multi-use trail connector, a beach access viewing platform, a new wood plank path, parking expansion and improvements, a pedestrian walkway, and improvements to beach access. The beachfront park will include a kids’ play area, picnic area, car and trailer parking, and bike parking. There will also be environmental education stations added.

The parking lot improvements include pervious pavement to allow stormwater to drain better.

One Hundred Miles’ opposition is based on what will be lost from the site.

“We don’t oppose the project because it is literally paving anything, rather because it is destroying sand dunes and demolishing perfectly inhabitable existing facilities to build a bigger parking lot and other facilities,” Desrosiers said. 

“Access to the beach along Georgia’s coast is important. Especially because only 4 of our 14 islands are accessible by car. But irresponsible and unnecessary destruction of our shared natural and public resources in the name of access should not be tolerated. 

“People come here because they don’t have access to natural beaches and maritime forests in other states. This project would make St. Simons’ most iconic beach just like any other tourist beach on the East Coast.”