Virginia Coastal Zone Management - Summer/Fall 2008

Dunes and Beaches: Expanded Protection for Critical Coastal Resources

By Shep Moon, Virginia CZM

Dunes and beaches provide critical habitat for a number of important plant and animal species, filter fresh water before it reaches salt or brackish water, and provide a buffer and wave energy absorption so that properties are protected from shoreline erosion.

On Feb. 22, 2008, Governor Kaine signed legislation to help protect these important coastal resources by expanding the reach of the “Coastal Primary Sand Dunes and Beaches Act” from the original nine localities to the entire Virginia coastal zone. The result is added protection for approximately 1,300 estuarine beaches and dunes that encompass about 75 miles of shoreline along 24 additional counties and 14 cities. The legislation also added Virginia Pine, Broom Sedge and Japanese Sedge to the list of vegetation that help define primary sand dunes. Taken together, these modifications to the Act will result in significantly expanded beach and dune protection.

Passage of the legislation is the culmination of a more than 10 year partnership between the Virginia CZM Program, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). According to Scott Hardaway of the Shoreline Studies Program at VIMS, the legislation will underscore the importance of sandy coasts in Virginia and provide a standard for future sand management efforts.

The original “Dune Act” was passed in 1980 and later expanded to cover sandy beaches above mean high water. At the time of the original legislation, coastal primary sand dunes were known to exist in the nine localities, but there was no comprehensive inventory of dune or beach resources. A series of studies funded by the Virginia CZM Program and conducted by Scott Hardaway, Lyle Varnell and others at VIMS showed that extensive dune and beach resources were unprotected, especially from the impacts of shoreline hardening structures such as rock revetments and wooden bulkheads. These structures are designed to control shoreline erosion, but can also affect dune and beach habitats and decrease the amount of sand necessary to maintain beaches. In some cases houses have even been constructed on primary dunes.

Prior to expansion of the Dunes and Beaches Act, shoreline resources in coastal localities not listed in the Act (“nonjurisdictional” localities) were managed only up to the mean high water level. This protection was afforded by the Tidal Wetlands law which includes “nonvegetated wetlands” up to mean high water. In these localities, sandy beaches above mean high water (supratidal beaches) and primary dunes (as defined in the Act) were given little or no protection. These areas did fall under the jurisdiction of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, but Bay Act Regulations allow shoreline management structures within designated Resource Protection Areas (RPAs). The Bay Act also provides a process for localities to grant exceptions to certain “grandfathered lots” that could allow encroachment into the RPA and thus into areas with primary sand dunes.

Secondary dunes, older dunes found landward of primary dunes, are not covered by the Act. These sand features were not included in the original Act, in part because of the difficulty of defining their landward extent. Analysis by VIMS, however, showed that most of Virginia’s secondary dunes were either already protected through public or private conservation ownership, were already significantly altered by development, or faced little threat of development because of limited access. VIMS recommended that the remaining unprotected but threatened secondary dune sites be protected through other means. These sites can be found in Northampton, Lancaster and Northumberland counties. VIMS suggested that this protection might be achieved through acquisition or conservation easements where property owners were willing. Unprotected secondary dunes are now a high priority in Virginia’s CELCP Plan (see article on CELCP in this issue).

Based on VIMS research on dunes and beaches, the Virginia CZM Coastal Policy Team supported the idea of expanding the Coastal Primary Sand Dunes and Beaches Act. Delegate Harvey Morgan also supported expansion and sponsored HB 1308 to amend the Act. With expansion of this legislation, more localities now have the ability to manage these critical resources by adopting a local dunes zoning ordinance. If a coastal locality chooses to adopt the ordinance, it would be administered by its local wetlands board. If a coastal locality chooses not to adopt the ordinance, VMRC will regulate development affecting dunes and beaches in that locality. In either case, improved management of dunes and beaches, two of Virginia’s most important coastal resources, will be the result of the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program partnership.