- October 12, 2024
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A landowner delaying a multimillion-dollar federal dune renourishment project in Flagler Beach has now signed easements that will let workers access her land so the project can begin.
Landowner Cynthia D’Angiolini signed a hold-harmless agreement with the county on April 5, granting project workers access to her two beachfront parcels.
The project, led by the Army Corps of Engineers, would build up a protective beach dune to help block storm surge flooding during hurricanes and nor’easters. Because the project crosses private property, the Corps of Engineers needs permission from private property owners in the project area to access their land and add sand to the dune, and could not begin without having all property owners’ permission because skipping a section in the project length could create a breach point that would undermine the entire project.
D’Angiolini was the last to sign, delaying the project and leading the county to threaten eminent domain proceedings.
But the county gained leverage when Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed discovered in early December that D’Angiolini had failed to disclose her ownership of the two beachfront properties when she filed for bankruptcy in 2019. In the fall of 2022, she finished paying off her debts from the bankruptcy case without ever disclosing those properties and their value.
Hadeed enlisted local attorney Scott Spradley’s expertise as a bankruptcy lawyer to take the case to court. If D’Angiolini had not signed the hold-harmless agreement, the case was set to go to trial on April 17.
Hadeed and Spradley met with D’Angiolini’s lawyer for a pretrial hearing on April 4. Hadeed said D’Angiolini told the bankruptcy judge that she would sign the agreement documents the next day. To ensure they were signed, the Orlando bankruptcy judge held a conference between the parties on April 6.
Hadeed wrote by email after the conference that the documents were being submitted to the court for approval, and the county will withdraw its proceedings against D’Angiolini.
The beach renourishment project will now be able to move forward once the Corps of Engineers completes a redesign process to take into account new calculations showing that more sand will be needed for the renourishment than initially expected. The redesign process could take close to 11 months, delaying the start of construction until around November.
