Naples and Ian recovery: 5 things to know about the pier, signs, permits and beach access
The City of Naples continues to work on Hurricane Ian repairs, with the costliest being its famous pier, but also signs and beach access that affect everyday life.
Costs related to emergency response and City repairs - both temporary and permanent - are expected to exceed $35 million, according to Deputy City Manager / Chief Financial Officer Gary Young. The pier will take up 54.5% of that at an estimated $20 million.
Pier engineer costs expected in December
Hurricane Ian took down the Naples Pier, which draws about 1 million visitors a year. Attracting tourists and fishermen since being built in 1888, the pier is experienced at storm destruction having been damaged and rebuilt in five other storms. On Sept. 28, 2022, Ian significantly damaged about 460 feet of the 1,000-foot pier. About 140 feet of its western end, including a shelter and more than 30 pilings, fell into the Gulf of Mexico. In April, Naples City Council chose Turrell, Hall & Associates for the design. In June, the Council selected a reconstruction design after being presented with two conceptual (30% Plans) options by Naples-founded MHK Architecture. “The pier is the design phase at this point, and city officials expect engineer costs estimates sometime in December 2023,” Young said in an email responding to reporter questions.A portion of the pier is open to the public, though fishing is not allowed, and concessions are closed.
Getting to the Beach
About 30 of Naples 40 beach accesses are open, according to city staff. Driving along Gulf Shore Boulevard, fences, orange cones, do-not-enter signs and caution tape block several beach entry points at the end of roads including 15th Avenue South, 16th Avenue South, 14th Avenue South, 2nd Avenue South, Third Avenue South.
According to the City, Naples “will be opening the closed ones in the coming months to a ‘safe to use’ status while we continue to work with developing the plans and bidding out construction for the permanent fix.”
More: SWFL signs and buildings post Ian Why are some signs and buildings still damaged in SWFL 10 months after Hurricane Ian?
Which way do I go?
Of the hundreds of street signs in Naples, 35 were lost during Hurricane Ian.
“Temporary signs were ordered, and we are waiting for them to come in,” Monique Barnhart-Tiberio, communications and public outreach manager, shared from staff in an email. “They will be in place until the accesses are re-built, then the new permanent signs will be installed.”
By comparison, in much more heavily damaged Lee County, 10,989 sign assemblies (82%) of the total that sustained damage have been repaired or replaced, according to Communications Director Betsy Clayton.
City issued 86.3% of permits requested since Ian
Naples received 2,291 permit requests since Sept. 28; of those, 1,976, or 86.3%, have been issued.
Lee County accepted 72,516 permit applications, 45,411 of which were identified by the applicant as being hurricane related, between Oct. 1, 2022, and June 30.
The number of Lee County permits was about a 40% increase over each of the past two years, Clayton said, and the county has added staff to deal with the backlog.
Barnhart-Tiberio said, “city staff is adequate to handle workload and has additional resources to use as needed for spikes in workload. Inspections are still next day with no backlog, and permit application for work are not significantly delayed due to workload.”
Federal assistance available, being sought
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has Public Assistance Program that provides supplemental grants to states, tribal, territory and local governments for response and recovery from major disasters and emergencies.
Naples continues to pursue all appropriate insurance and FEMA reimbursements deemed eligible based on their criteria and damage category, Young said.
“Plan development, permitting, procurement, and construction all take time,” he said, “while coordinating things with FEMA and their guidelines to ensure we get reimbursed for all we qualify for.”
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples and its Ian recovery as of mid-August
