EDITORIAL: Sinking ever deeper into the sand quagmire

Forgive us if we have a hard time following the argument of a certain cadre of beachfront homeowners. Out of one side of their mouth, these folks scream they don’t want sand — and certainly don’t want filthy replacement sand. Out of the other, they say that dredged sand from the harbor is vital to their well-being.

We at The Log were discouraged to learn Thursday that Dave and Rebecca Sherry of Okaloosa Island joined another couple in filing a petition objecting to the planned dredging of East Pass. Whether the intent or not, the move will likely delay attempts to get a dredge here in November. And this comes at a time when any captain will tell you that navigating past Norriego Point is becoming an ever-tighter squeeze.

The petition takes aim at a common sense plan to move dredged sand to where it’s truly needed. A “Unified Team” of property owners is asking the Department of Environmental Protection to allow the city to take sand dredged from East Pass and place it on the shores of Holiday Isle properties that are literally drowning in the Gulf of Mexico.

The permits, based on an outdated inlet management plan and the study of currents and sand flow, historically call for dredged sand to be placed on Okaloosa Island. Sherry told The Log last week that “The East Pass sand is our natural sand supply. If they are allowed to take the East Pass sand away from us, then our beaches will be starved of sand and erode to the point of needing restoration with inferior sand ... West Holiday Isle's solution to fix their homes involves destroying ours.”

Of course, Sherry also told The Log last year: “Let the people who want and need sand near the East Pass have it. Leave the rest of us out of it.” He also told WJHG in a January 16, 2009 report that Okaloosa Island was  "not in any immediate danger.”

In their passionate fight against restoration, the Sherrys have raised plenty of compelling points — specifically on the inequities of the assessments that property owners must pay to restore the beach. They also have a right to be angry about the brown sand that was tossed in the beach in a moment of misguided post-hurricane panic.

But we question their right to hold the harbor and the fishermen this city was founded upon hostage in their private war on beach restoration.

The Sherrys simply do not represent the majority interests of Okaloosa Island. This point was proven last week when Gloria Turner, the vice president of the Okaloosa Island Leaseholder Association, joined the Unified Team around a table at Jetty East. She said the association supports the sand swap and added that the Sherrys “only represent people who contribute to their cause.”

In the end, we mustn’t let the clamoring of a litigious and vocal few drown out the chorus of rightfully desperate homeowners pleading for sand.