Vilano Beach

Announcements

Damage Due to Hurricane Ian, September 28-30, 2022 – On October 9, 2022, County Crews assisted the Army Corps of Engineers in touring our coastline for a firsthand account of the severe damage undertaken by Hurricane Ian. Among them in attendance was County Commissioner Henry Dean, Emergency Management Director Joseph Giammanco and County Coastal Manager Damon Douglas. This meeting helped the County possibly secure additional aid and resources needed to maintain our coastline. More specifically, this opened the door for the County to pursue additional Army Corps feasibility studies for the most impacted areas of our coast and come up with more long term solutions for the longevity of our coastal communities. The most impacted areas that the Army Corps annotated were south St Augustine Beach to Summer Haven and South Ponte Vedra to Vilano beach.

$62 Million Awarded to St. Johns County for Emergency Beach Repairs – St. Johns County will receive up to $62 million in federal funding from the Jacksonville District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for emergency repairs on two beach projects. The projects include the St. Johns County Shore Protection Project in St. Augustine Beach and the St. Johns County South Ponte Vedra Beach and Vilano Beach Coastal Storm Risk Management Project. The USACE anticipates the construction to start in summer 2023.

The Army Corps has stressed that it is extremely important to complete any necessary repairs to seawalls, removal and/or replacement of damaged walkovers and removal of patio items, etc. along the dune footprint prior to construction commencing. The construction contract is scheduled to be awarded May 9, 2023.

Homeowners along the project area need to have all repairs completed by May 1, 2023.

The Corps contractor would most likely be forced to skip homes where equipment and work is ongoing to seawalls or walkovers as placement of sand along these areas would be impossible with (2) contractors working in the same area.

Dune Preservation – Please stay off the remains of the newly constructed dunes in all project areas throughout the County as well as the healthy remaining dunes. It is imperative that beachgoers stick to the designated dune crossings areas. Be advised of submerged debris along our coast, both on and off the beach. County and State personnel are diligently working to remove all hazards. Eroded dunes and beach escarpments (sand cliffs) are unstable. Do not dig into them for danger of collapse and burial. The beach escarpments (sand cliffs) caused by the tide will eventually repair themselves to a gentler slope. Safety, caution and patience are needed at this time. Pedestrians are urged to exercise caution due to heavy equipment removing debris.

Project Details

• The project extends from the Ocean Villas at Serenata Beach to just north of Nease Beach Front Park.

• Fifty year project with periodic nourishments.

• Rebuilding the dune to the 2015 conditions and widening the flat beach by 60 feet from where it was in 2015.

• For more information, please see the 

• Coastal Storm Risk Management Public Handout

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Website

Funding

• The project has been fully approved and funded using a combination of USACE, State, County Tourist Development "Bed Tax", and MSTU funds.

Contact Us

For more information, please contact the Coastal Management team at (904) 209-0260, or coastalprojects@sjcfl.us.

Non-project Beach updates can be heard on the Beach Services Hotline at 904-209-0331.