Greer Island became a motorboat ghost town in late June.
Now its eastern shoreline is closed to beachgoers while Longboat Key emergency dredges the lagoon area that has filled in with migrating sand.
A public notice on the town website June 27 said Duncan Seawall was mobilizing for the emergency dredge to provide access to Canal 1A and the Greer Island lagoon area. The work requires the eastern side of the island, southeast of the Longboat Pass Bridge to be closed to the public for about three weeks.
Longboat Key planning, zoning and building director Allen Parsons told The Islander June 28 that the emergency dredge will be followed by a larger dredging project at the end of the year.
The emergency project requires limiting access to the area already restricted to motorboats by the Longboat Key commission via a June 20 ordinance.
The public works department erected “Motorboats Prohibited” and “Swim at your own Risk” signs before the July 4 holiday, while pink flags were placed to mark the proposed path of a new canal.
Commissioners unanimously enacted the boat prohibition June 20 to create a safe area for bathers.
The ordinance prohibits motorized vessels from anchoring or beaching on the sand at Greer Island.
The town’s plans also include buoys marked “Motorboats prohibited” in the nearshore waters of Greer Island.
The buoys will not be placed until around July 18 or when the dredging project is completed.
To learn more about the proposed changes, go online to longboatkey.org.