VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — People are frustrated after the Ponce Inlet Jetty is closed due to storm damage for the second time in two years. We took the community’s questions and concerns about the popular structure to the county’s coastal director.
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The popular community walkway and fishing spot shut down for over a year after Hurricane Ian hit in 2022. It reopened for about 10 months before rough surf ripped it apart again.
This time, the damage is even worse.
“You can’t ride a bike out and check the waves and it makes it harder for people who can’t climb rocks to get out to the paved part of the jetty,” said owner of Ocean Inlet Surf Shop, James Patrick.
Business owners and residents consider the jetty a community staple and tourist attraction. They want the county to devise a more permanent solution for the structure.
“The primary dune was erased during the two big storms a couple of years ago.”
“Due to that barrier being gone, we’re looking at a lot more wave action,” said Shea Lopez, who lives in the area.
We took their concerns to the County’s Coastal Director and learned that both a quick and permanent fix are in the works. The county is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a concrete walkway to the jetty.
However, those permits can take years, and ocean conditions have to be just right before construction can start.
In the meantime, the wooden boardwalk will be rebuilt.
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“After the hurricane, we needed to eliminate beach driving. We needed to restore the natural habitat before we put something artificial on top of it,” said Lopez.
The county hopes to start constructing the wooden walkway in the coming months.
The community is divisive on whether the area should remain accessible while that process continues.
“If it’s going to take two years for the concrete one, it would be great to have a temporary wood one,” said Patrick.
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Here is the official breakdown the county shared with Eyewitness News on the plans for the jetty:
- The north and south jetties are structures of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
- The USACE is responsible for the voids in the jetty (rock) structure and any displaced rocks along the jetties.
- The county holds an agreement with the USACE to allow for the jetty fishing deck on the north jetty.
- The north jetty fishing deck recently closed during a nor’easter just before Hurricane Milton. The timber boardwalk connecting the Lifeguard Tower to the concrete jetty deck washed away due to ocean impacts.
- The jetty connector cannot be reinstalled until ocean conditions allow for the resetting of the poles and reconstruction of the asset. The Jetty Deck is appropriately signed, notifying the public that it is closed.
- The county has applied to the USACE to extend the concrete jetty deck on the north jetty west to approximately 400 feet. This will connect to the new (2025-2026) Lighthouse Point Park Boardwalk Project via an on-grade sidewalk, making the jetty deck ADA accessible and more storm resilient. Permitting infrastructure on top of a federal asset is usually a multi-year process. We hope to have the permits in place and construction occurring around the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026 while the boardwalk replacement project is close to completion.
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