JUNO BEACH — A missing fence at a Juno Beach public beach access point is creating tension between condo residents and summer beachgoers — and a fix could cost the town thousands of dollars.

 

Residents at the Colony Condos say people using the JB-7 public walkway are cutting through their private property since the town removed the old fence in 2023 for safety reasons. Without it, only bushes separate the public access path from private land Lori Hill, a Colony resident, said the problem peaks in summer. "Lots of cars that just come at random, and then they just park on the spots there," Hill said. "Bushes are pushed back that they cut through those with their coolers and their fishing rods and lawn chairs and everything, and then they just park there all day." Hill said residents remember when the fence made the boundary clear. Since it came down, she said confrontations with trespassers have become a recurring problem. "We used to confront them and tell them this is private property, and they would get pretty rude. So, now what we've just been doing is just calling the police, and they've been coming up and confronting them," Hill said.

Residents at the Colony Condos say the town's removal of a fence at JB-7 beach access point has left their private property without a clear boundary. A replacement could cost six figures.

Not everyone on the beach sees a major issue. Beachgoer Michael House said he walks to JB-7 from a public lot a couple of blocks away and has not witnessed the problems residents describe.

"There's plenty of free parking. ... If they're damaging property and you know littering and stuff like that might be a different issue," House said. "I have never noticed anyone hopping the fence or the shrubs or anything like that."

The dispute came before the Juno Beach Town Council at a recent meeting, where a town official noted the town is not obligated to install a fence.

Vice Mayor Pro Tem DD Halpern said a lower-cost solution may be worth exploring.

"I understand fencing is expensive, but I'd like to see maybe we can help them with a lower-cost fence or some combination of split rail and shrubs," Halpern said.

Hill said residents are hopeful the town will act.

"We're really hoping that the town will get back on board and just put it back up, so that we can have our landscaping and our private parking," Hill said.

The council agreed to take up the fence question as part of its upcoming budget discussions on July 15.