A Central Sewage System for the Hammock?

 

                                            A Statement by the Hammock Civic Association

 

Please note: This document represents a position we adopted in 2004. We are now revisiting it in light of the recent interest in a new sewer system.

 

     The Hammock Civic Association was founded in 1978 to protect and enhance the quality of life on our unique barrier island.  That remains our goal, even though we find ourselves defending a diminishing status quo as development accelerates.  We seek ways to turn development to the island’s advantage, limiting its pernicious effects while benefiting from the progress it may bring. 

 

     A new challenge we now face may allow us to do just that – if we act with vigor and  foresight.  Local government leaders and commercial interests have begun to discuss installation of a central sewage system on the island.   Indeed, a preliminary engineering study is already under way.  Hammock residents should take this prospect seriously.  It may happen sooner than most of us had imagined.

 

     It is our view that a central system would benefit us, were it done in a manner that took everyone’s interests into account in a balanced way, and were every effort made to take advantage of government grants and other means to control costs.  The disadvantages of septic systems, still widely used in the Hammock, need no recounting.  One worth stressing at this point, however, is that future development, if forced to rely on septic systems, will inevitably require clearing large areas of our natives live oaks and other valuable trees.

 

     We also are deeply concerned, however, that a central sewer system could be used as an opening, a camel’s nose in the tent, that could lead some to push for denser residential and perhaps more intense commercial use of the limited available land on this fragile barrier island.  We would vigorously oppose such an outcome.

 

     We do not see this issue as a zero-sum game.  Those who have doubts about a central system as well as those who unreservedly support it can come together to find a solution acceptable to all. We set out below what we believe are criteria that, taken as a whole, both sides should be able to support. We are aware that implementation of these criteria would require discussion on their details.

 

     First, our central concern.  Before the system is begun, the Hammock community, county officials, and representatives of commercial interests should, through consultation, come to a firm consensus on residential and commercial density limitations in the Hammock.  Those limitations should adhere to the vision provided by the Charrette exercise and by the A1A Corridor Management Plan.  They should be incorporated in both county zoning and the county’s Comprehensive Plan.  We urge the county to play a guiding role in this effort and to begin work on it as soon as possible.

 

 

 

 

     We stress that the central sewer system, if installed, must remain true to the vision developed in the Charrette by government, professionals and citizens working together in a fully, in fact nearly ideally, democratic way.  Most residents of the Hammock, we believe, support the Charrette enthusiastically.  It foresees, in more detail than we can repeat here, a Hammock with low intensity commercial use clustered at key points along A1A, and low to moderate density residential use.    If we are not true to that vision we will become simply another strip mall along the coast, and we all, including commercial property owners, will suffer from it.

 

     Second, the system should be managed by a government entity. The present regulatory regime allows severe abuse of the environment (and customers) by privately-owned waste systems.  Ocean City Utilities of Beverly Beach is a case in point.  A government-run entity would not be perfect, but would be more sensitive to the needs of the voting citizenry.   Extension of the Palm Coast sewage system is an option being considered, we understand.   Since we are not citizens of Palm Coast, and cannot vote in its elections, were that option chosen an arrangement should be made to ensure residents of the Hammock a voice in the operation and installation of the system in the Hammock.

 

     Third, before the treatment plant is placed on the barrier island, every effort should be made to ensure that other options are not feasible.  Were the plant placed on the island, the effluent should receive tertiary treatment.  The plant should not discharge any of its treated effluent into the Intracoastal Waterway or the estuaries of the Matanzas River

 

     Fourth, the system should not take priority over the Hammock’s natural beauty and living resources. Installation of the system should take place without significant damage to any valuable resource, be it a tree over a certain size or natural drainage system.  

 

     Fifth, should hook-up be mandatory for existing septic tank owners, provision should be made in cases of financial or other need to delay hook-up or for maximally flexible payment plans. 

 

     Sixth, any lift stations or other above-ground evidence of the system should be blended, as much as possible, into the surrounding landscape.

 

     We look forward to the installation of a sewer system that meets these criteria.  All property owners, commercial or residential, will be the better off for it.