Inside Belleair Shore's Beach Boundary Fight

BELLEAIR SHORE — Months before petitioning the state to vacate a decades-old beach boundary, a commissioner was already pressing the town attorney about how Belleair Shore would enforce its trespassing and other ordinances if the request were granted, records show.

Internal emails, obtained through a public records request, offer a behind-the-scenes look at how town officials prepared for their effort to remove the erosion control line (ECL). The ECL is established as part of beach renourishment projects and separates publicly owned beach areas from privately owned uplands.

The correspondence shows officials were already planning for the possibility that the state would vacate the legal boundary, including how far Belleair Shore's authority would extend over its mile-long beachfront.

Now, despite not knowing what the effort could cost, town commissioners voted unanimously July 21 to continue that fight by appealing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's denial of the town's petition. Commissioners also authorized Mayor Steve Blume to select outside legal counsel to represent the town in the administrative appeal.

Town Attorney Daniel Lewis said the town has until 5 p.m. Aug. 7 to file its petition with the Division of Administrative Hearings. He recommended hiring outside counsel because the case falls outside his area of expertise. Lewis told commissioners he had received proposals from attorneys charging between $435 and $475 an hour.

Lewis said he could not estimate the overall cost.

"It'll be costly," he said. "It's going to be a significant financial investment if the town wants to proceed forward with it."

Despite the uncertainty, commissioners agreed the appeal was worth pursuing.

"The entity that declined it used every opportunity to avoid the facts," Blume said of the DEP. "We need to be the one to lead the charge."

The referenced emails were obtained by Belleair Beach City Council member Frank Bankard through a public records request and shared with Pinellas Current.

In a Feb. 5 message to Lewis, Commissioner Michael Tolbert wrote that "one of the key questions" was "where do we draw the line between where we can enforce ordinances and where do state laws take over" if the ECL were removed.

Tolbert added that, unlike attorney and former Belleair Beach Mayor Joseph Manzo, who “argues the ECL is the line, most in Belleair Shore argue it's into the water.”

Tolbert noted he was "not a lawyer" and acknowledged relying on artificial intelligence research that "can be dangerous" as he tried to understand the issue. He nevertheless concluded that the town's charter appeared to extend Belleair Shore's jurisdiction nine nautical miles into the Gulf. The commissioner asked Lewis "to tell us how we are going to enforce ordinances" beyond the ECL or the mean high-water line from which it is derived.

The tiny and wealthy town of 57 Gulf front homes, between Clearwater and Indian Rocks Beach, has nearly a dozen beachfront ordinances. They regulate everything from trespassing and vehicle access to temporary shade structures, dogs, smoking, camping and even digging holes in the sand. Those measures are enforced by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office under contract with the town.

Lewis replied that he would call Tolbert later that day. The emails do not include any written response addressing the questions.

The emails also show officials girding for controversy shortly after the petition was filed.

In a June 23 email, Tolbert urged Lewis to prepare responses to objections raised by Belleair Beach, Pinellas County and DEP "before the narrative turns against us in the court of public opinion." Tolbert wrote that he expected upcoming commission meetings to become "quite contentious" between residents of Belleair Beach and Belleair Shore.

He also disputed claims that removing the ECL would restrict public beach access, calling those concerns "unfounded." He suggested opposition was being driven by "a vocal few" rather than the broader Belleair Beach community.

Belleair Shore’s petition to remove the ECL within the town argued that no beach nourishment had occurred there after the boundary was recorded in 1997.

The petition was filed in May, after Pinellas County completed its $125 million Sand Key beach renourishment project, which excluded Belleair Shore as the town does not provide public beach access. Some property owners complained at commission meetings about construction equipment traversing their beachfront for months, audio recordings reveal.

DEP rejected the petition last month, determining the original Sand Key project in 1998 had been completed as required and that Florida law does not authorize vacating only a portion of an ECL.

The town's pending appeal is already drawing additional governments into the dispute.

Bankard is urging the county commission, which previously opposed Belleair Shore's petition in a letter to DEP, to intervene in the appeal. He argued the outcome could establish a precedent affecting other beachfront communities and property owners along Florida's Gulf Coast.

The Belleair Beach City Council is scheduled July 27 to consider a resolution authorizing the city to intervene in any administrative proceeding challenging DEP's denial of Belleair Shore's petition.