Beach Access and Parking Committee Update

Earlier this year the DCCA Board established the Beach Access and Parking Committee to analyze parking issues at our various beach access points and make recommendations for improvement to the Board. Parking has become a growing issue with the increasing growth of the community as well as expanded utilization of many existing homes triggered by the Covid pandemic.

At the current time, the problem is exacerbated by a shrinking beach at high tide limiting the areas of the beach which can be utilized prior to completion of renourishment plans. Looking forward to this summer, the problem will be further pressured by the limitation of the popular north beach access sand road to only the two communities for which it was originally intended.

The committee provided its initial recommendations to the DCCA Board last month and reviewed them at the Annual Meeting on May 1st. The recommendations are categorized in three areas:

  • Increase the use of existing designated parking areas that are not well known or utilized.
  • Better organize parking at those areas that are heavily used to enable more parking.
  • Establish several new designated parking areas where possible.

In the first category, existing parking at several areas can be better identified and utilized:

  • Current designated parking in the medians of Pioneer Loop north and Clipper Court offer significant parking for Beach Access #’s 2 & 3, but are not as well known or used because they are not on DeBordieu Blvd.
  • Also, the existing community parking area on Dune Oaks near Beach Access #8 is also little known or used since it is also off the Blvd.
  • To make people more aware of these areas, new signage will be placed on DeBordieu Blvd highlighting these Beach Access points and the available parking.

In the second category, parking can be better organized to enable more vehicles to park:

  • The median of DeBordieu Blvd by Beach Access #’s 5 & 6, which are already heavily utilized in the summer, as well as the medians of both Pioneer Loop and Clipper Court can be more efficiently organized to enable more parking.
  • New signage will be placed to highlight these as designated parking areas and to “Please Angle Park”, so as to optimize the use of the space available.

Finally, in the third category, new designated parking areas are being established at several locations:

  • Parking at Pioneer Loop north as well as Clipper Court will be expanded to include the areas of the medians closer to DeBordieu Blvd. When combined with the existing parking in these two medians, there is four times the area as currently available for cart parking at the Beach Club.
  • Also added will be the median of Pioneer Loop south as parking for Beach Access #4.
  • Next, the median of Prospect Point Loop will be designated for parking across from Beach Access #6.
  • Finally, the Club is designating an “overflow cart parking” area at the Beach Club in the grassy area near the Pavilion.

The recommended new parking areas and improved signage will be installed before Memorial Day. In addition, a detailed map of the 12 community beach access points and parking areas will be made available to the community as well as to renters. The Beach Access and Parking committee plans to monitor the success of these changes throughout the summer and identify what additional actions may be needed.