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Article and Video Courtesy
of WINK NEWS
By Hannah Vogel
Published
August 1, 2019
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 Watch
VIDEO
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Plants and natural vegetation that once surrounded a Marco Island beach
are all gone. The construction crews that got rid of it did not have
permission. Now, the contractor and the condominium may pay a heavy
price.
Tonya Hamline said it sticks out like a sore thumb.
“An eyesore,” Hamline said. “I mean, it’s just out of place.”
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Piles of sand, vegetation and a patted down Marco
Island beach. It is right in front of the Madeira
Condominiums.
“Marco [Island] is so beautifully manicured,” Hamline
said. “To see that it’s like, yeah that definitely needs
to be addressed.”
According to both Marco Island city leaders and the
State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection,
the contractor ripped up part of the beach without
permission.
Both the contractor, RR Restoration, and Madeira
Condominiums received warning letters from the state. In
the letters, the state accused them of damaging existing
dunes, removing native vegetation and removing beach
material to change ground elevation. |
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The DEP said it is a problem because those all serve as our state’s
first line of defense against storms, lessening potential damage to
buildings and our beaches, as the latter is also home to Florida
wildlife.
“They should give them some type of penalty, some type of fine, make
them bring it back to the way it was,” said Chris Degiralomo, a Marco
Island resident. “Where does it stop? It’ll just keep going.”
Repairs are a given and depending on what the DEP decides, both RR
Restoration and Madeira Condominiums could get served with thousands of
dollars worth of fines.
In a statement, RR Restoration said it denies the allegations and went
to great lengths to get the necessary permits, along with protecting the
beach.
“Society would fall apart,” Degiralomo said. “Like anything else, you
have to have structure.”
“You would like to think they went through the proper channels,” said
Dave Mullett, a Marco Island resident.
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