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Governments Plan for Development of Land Vulnerable to Rising Sea Level: Flagler County, Florida

Excerpts from underlying study by Maurice Postal, Baker County (formerly with Northeast Florida Regional Planning Council)

The Atlantic Ocean defines the eastern boundary of the county. The Intracoastal Waterway runs parallel to the Atlantic coastline approximately 3 miles inland. Flagler County has approximately 63 miles of tidally influenced coastline included in the study.

Atlantic Coastline. The properties along the Atlantic Coastline consist of high-end residential, commercial, and recreational land use designations. All of the areas contiguous to the ocean, including open and forested lands are almost certain to be protected.The local planners suggested that the golf courses along the Atlantic Coastline should be marked as protection almost certain because of their popularity with the locals, rather than protection likely.   Some of the areas along the coast are undeveloped but if they were allowed to flood, Highway A1A would have to be fortified or relinquished to flood waters. It would be more cost-effective to fortify the entire stretch of coast than to relocate the highway inland, if it is even feasible to protect developed areas with beach nourishment without indirectly nourishing adjacent lands.  SR A1A has recently been designated a scenic highway, making it important to protect from flooding. The towns of Marineland, Beverly Beach, and Flagler Beach are all marked as protection almost certain.

Intracoastal Waterway.  Many of these lands are agricultural and are marked as protection likely. Other areas along the Intracoastal include commercial, recreational, and residential. The forested areas of parks and public land are marked as protection likely. The commercial, recreational (golf courses), and residential lands are marked as protection almost certain. There are some areas of open lands that are contiguous to developed areas that are marked as protection unlikely, while specific ones targeted by planners are designated as protection almost certain because of expectations for future development. Some of these areas are surrounded by marsh (wetlands), but they are close enough to developed lands that there may be a possibility for protection in the future.  Islands of open and forested lands along the Intracoastal Waterway are unlikely to be protected because of their remoteness; they currently are accessible only via a boat.

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Governments Plan for Development of Most Land Vulnerable to Rising Sea (PDF, 7 pp., 1.3 MB) was originally published in Environmental Research Letters , Issue 3, Volume 4 (2009).

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