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Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach
Post
By WILLIAM
KELLY
Published November 17, 2009
SOUTH PALM BEACH — Oceanfront residents of the
Imperial House co-operative were being evacuated Monday because pounding
ocean surf threatened to undermine the building's foundation.
In the last week, relentless wave activity has
scoured sand from around 6,000-pound blocks dropped in front of the
building in 2007 after a retaining wall collapsed.
A crack has now developed between the 50-year-old
building and a sidewalk that once provided beach access.
Bonnie Fischer said there was 200 to 300 feet of
beach in front of the Imperial House when she moved into her oceanfront
unit 33 years ago. Since Saturday night, ocean spray has been slapping
against her bedroom windows at high tide.
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other residents of the building's 18-unit east wing were
packing up Monday after being told to leave by South Palm
Beach Police. Fischer said she's not sure when they'll be
able to return.
The Imperial House's engineering
consultants advised residents and town officials that the
east wing of the building is not safe until protective
measures are taken. Residents in the western end of the
co-operative were allowed to stay.
Ray Corrigan, with Atlantic Coastal
Engineering, a consultant to the Imperial House, said
there is a "grave chance" the east wing could
suffer severe structural damage or even collapse if the
waves wash beneath it.
Waves have scoured sand from around
the large |
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At
low tide, waves reach the collapsed back of the Imperial House on
Monday. A two-year-old temporary fix is failing and a wall on the
south side is separating from the building. Officials worry the
structure could be severely damaged or collapse.
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blocks,
causing them to partially sink and diminishing their ability to protect the
building, South Palm Beach Mayor Marty Millar said.
Neither the Imperial House nor the town has
sufficient access to bring heavy equipment and material onto the beach,
Imperial House board member Jack Fogarty said.
The Town of Lantana reportedly granted a
5-day permit Monday so the Imperial House could use the its adjacent
beachfront park to bring in more huge blocks for emergency protection.
"That's a small Band-Aid. It won't last
for long," Fogarty said.
The Imperial House has been particularly
vulnerable to beach erosion because it is situated on land that juts
slightly out toward the ocean, and also because it relied on a retaining
wall, which provides far less protection than a sea wall, Fogarty said.
On a positive note, a review of the Imperial
House's construction blueprints Monday revealed that there are pilings under
the building, providing more strength for the foundation than if there had
just been a concrete slab, Fischer said.
After the erosion occurred in 2007, the
Imperial House requested an environmental permit from the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection enabling it to build a sea wall. The permit was
granted in October, and Imperial House planned to begin construction in
December, Fogarty said. It would take two months to remove the blocks, as
DEP requires, and build the wall.
But he said the co-operative recently learned
that Lantana wants about $250,000 for an "inconvenience fee" if it
allows enough access to build the sea wall.
"We need desperately to build a sea
wall," Fogarty said. But for now, he said, "All we can do is move
in additional blocks."
Lantana officials could not be reached for
comment.
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