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      The coastal construction control line program (CCCL) is an essential element of Florida's coastal management program. It provides protection for Florida's beaches and dunes while assuring reasonable use of private property. Recognizing the value of the state’s beaches, the Florida legislature initiated the Coastal Construction Control Line Program to protect the coastal system from improperly sited and designed structures which can destabilize or destroy the beach and dune system. Once destabilized, the valuable natural resources are lost, as are its important values for recreation, upland property protection and environmental habitat. Adoption of a coastal construction control line establishes an area of jurisdiction in which special siting and design criteria are applied for construction and related activities. These standards may be more stringent than those already applied in the rest of the coastal building zone because of the greater forces expected to occur in the more seaward zone of the beach during a storm event.

      Since the establishment of the Center in 1982, its main mission has been to carry out studies and related research for recommending the reestablishment location of the Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL). The CCCL study began in 1972 at the Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Department, University of Florida. During the first ten years, a Coastal Construction Setback Line (CCSL) was established in each of the twenty-four coastal counties with sandy beaches according to Florida Statutes' Chapter 161.053, which was enacted by the 1971 session of the Florida State Legislature. The State Legislature later amended the statute, changing the CCSL to Coastal Construction Control Line in 1978 and called for the reestablishment of the CCCL with newly defined factors.

      The general procedure of the CCCL study is first to simulate future storms/hurricanes for finding the 100-year frequency storm tide, based on past storm/hurricane history of the county of interest. Then, based on the most recent survey of the beach and offshore topography for the area, calculations of erosion and wave damage are carried out. Finally, the calculated results are combined with other factors such as long term erosion trends, vegetation, and existing structures to arrive at the recommended location of the CCCL. In essence, the CCCL's function is to define a coastal area seaward of the CCCL, in which severe impact would take place during a 100-year frequency hurricane event, whereby any construction there should be given special considerations as to its design and siting.

      Over the past decades, research by the Center has developed and continually improved the reliability and accuracy of the numerical models' prediction of storm tide and beach-dune erosion, and has also made great advances in other related fields. The CCCL has reestablished in twenty-four coastal counties with sandy beaches.

      An example of one event may give some indication as to the validity of the CCSL or CCCL. A CCSL was established along the undeveloped shoreline of Walton County in June 1975 and along the mostly developed shoreline of Bay County in September 1974. Hurricane Eloise of September 1975 struck the shoreline of Walton County and caused severe erosion and damage in Walton and Bay Counties. Eloise was less than a 100-year frequency hurricane and more so to the east side of Bay County because of the longer distance from the hurricane center. An intensive survey of the eroded beaches was carried out right after Eloise in an attempt to evaluate the CCSL with the actual erosion. Figures 1 and 2 (1)* show the CCSL's location in relation to the landward erosion limit in Walton and Bay Counties, respectively. For Walton County, the erosion did not breach the CCSL. But in Bay County, the erosion limit exceeded the CCSL location because the CCSL was set fifty feet seaward from the originally calculated line due to very strong local resistance against the CCSL. A comparison of the CCSL location variation along the shoreline with the erosion limit variation shows that they are in general agreement, which indicates that the factors considered in setting the CCSL are valid. Figure 3 shows the average damage per structure in relation to its location with the CCSL in Bay County. The data was taken from an article (2) by Dr. E. Warren Shows at the University of South Florida based on study of 540 structures in Bay County after Hurricane Eloise. The result shows clearly that damage per structure increases sharply seaward of the CCSL, levels off at the CCSL, and reduces gradually landward from the CCSL. The damage per structure is $203,000 at 150 feet seaward of the CCSL, reduces to $14,000 per structure at the CCSL and to $7,000 at 50 feet landward of the CCSL where the CCSL was originally recommended. The existing location of the CCSL was a good choice because it was just outside of a sharply increasing zone of structural damage. The newly reestablished CCCL in 1998 for Bay County is at an average distance of 120 feet farther inland from the CCSL. This location of the CCCL, coupled with the improved building codes, should reduce structural damage in the area seaward of the CCCL in Bay County to a minimum for an event similar to Hurricane Eloise or even more severe hurricanes.

      As a more recent example for the positive effect of CCCL, the structural damage by Hurricane Opal of October 1995 is shown in Table 1 (3) below.

TABLE 1

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE OF MAJOR HABITABLE STRUCTURES (MHS) SEAWARD OF CCCL ALONG PANHANDLE
County	Number of MHS		Number MHS Damaged
	Existing	Permitted	Non-Permitted	Permitted
Escambia/Santa Rosa	316	50	157	0
Okaloosa	134	24	53	0
Walton	443	196	71	1
Bay	600	45	341	1
Gulf	316	80	22	0
Franklin	377	181	7	0
Total	2186	576	651	2

      Opal was the most severe hurricane to impact Florida this century with maximum sustained surface winds reaching 150 mph when approaching landfall at Pensacola Beach in Escambia County. Severe damage occurred across the entire Panhandle from Escambia County through Franklin County. The above table indicates that the existing and non-permitted structures suffered a damage rate of 40%, and that the permitted structures under CCCL program with improved construction design and siting suffered only a 0.35% damage rate.

1. Chiu, T. Y., "Beach and Dune Response to Hurricane Eloise of September 1975," Proceedings of Coastal Sediment ‘77, 5th Symposium of the Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Division, ASCE, pp. 116-134, Charleston, South Carolina, November 1977.



2. Shows, E. W., "Florida's Coastal Setback Line - An Effort to Regulate Beach Front Development," Coastal Zone Management Journal, Vol. 4, Number ½, pp. 151-164, Crane, Russak and Company, Inc., 1978.



3. Leadon, M. E., Nguyen, N. T. and Clark, R. R., "Hurricane Opal - Beach and Dune Erosion and Structural Damage along the Panhandle Coast of Florida," Report No. BSC-98-01, Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems, Department of Environmental Protection, State of Florida, January 1998.