This spring and summer, Surf City residents and visitors will be greeted by fresh sand on the beach as a result of the Banks Channel Shallow Draft Navigation Project.
Town officials said the improved channel will enhance navigation for both commercial and recreational boaters, along with the advantages of an expanded shore.
“This added 60 feet of dry sand on the beach, and this is a recreational benefit as well as enhanced storm protection and erosion protection,” said Kyle Breuer, Surf City town manager.
As of April 12, all of the new sand on Surf City’s beach had been pumped and all the remnants of the project were expected to be gone by April 30, just in time for the start of the beach season.
“We got an extension from March 31, they stopped pumping sand on April 12, and the remainder of the time will be used to demobilize and get the equipment off the beach,” Breuer said in an interview in April.
The Banks Channel project came with a price tag of nearly $20 million and is an intermediary project to an Army Corps of Engineers major renourishment plan, anticipated to start in December.
“Erosion is ever consistent. Aside from truck haul projects from FEMA money after storms, we have never had a renourishment project, so it is important to do,” Breuer said. “High tides, King Tide events, storm events, named-storm events all take a toll, and we are very much looking forward to re-establishing the dune system in the 50-year plan.”
After the 50-year plan’s initial construction, renourishment is set to occur every year for the duration. After 50 years, the town will have an opportunity to renew the terms.
“People just assume beach renourishment is just for pretty beaches, but it protects the infrastructure when storms come in and erode what protects that infrastructure. We take for granted every day what protects our homes and property values,” said Tammy Proctor, executive director of the Greater Topsail Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism.
By taking the sand from Banks Channel for the navigation project and pumping it onto the beach, Proctor explained, the town of Surf City followed the law to ensure the beach renourishment was done using the same type of particulate and cleared out the channel for navigation purposes at the same time.
“It is a win-win for everybody,” Proctor said.
This is especially true given that Topsail Island and Surf City, specifically, has become a year-round destination for tourism, Breuer and Proctor said.
“Our season has extended. It is not just Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day anymore. It now runs from March 1 until the end of November,” Proctor said. “Tourism is a huge part of our economy, and it is important because so many of our businesses are mom-and-pops, and they rely on that foot traffic.”
Breuer said that as the region grows, including Sneads Ferry, Holly Ridge and Hampstead, more year-round residents are going to the beach, and all are going to Surf City and Topsail Island.
“The beach is the attraction, and the goal of our chamber is to keep people here and entertain them, give them an experience that they will go home and tell other people about it,” Proctor said.
As a result of this increased demand in services, Breuer says, there is a steady demand in the off-season which has become “more muted,” and a lot of investment has happened in restaurants and retail.
“It is not the best-kept secret that it was, but it is a beautiful place,” Proctor said. “And I give a lot of credit to our elected officials and those who had the foresight for this renourishment.”
