County could seize Beruff land for third bridge

I continue to read with interest those letters promoting a third bridge to the barrier islands by extending 53rd Avenue West. That might be an idea, except for the fact that the property between the west terminus of 53rd Avenue and the intracoastal waterway belongs to none other than Carlos Beruff.

What do you think your chances are of getting him to agree to use his land to build a road/bridge? He needs every square inch available and more to reap the biggest bang for his development buck. Anyone that wants to build a 13-story monstrosity as well as a mile-long retaining wall along the shoreline would probably care less if traffic were eased or hurricane evacuation were made easier.

Here's an idea. Take the land from Carlos by eminent domain, turn the whole thing into a park and nature preserve, build the road/bridge and problems solved. You got your third bridge, helped to preserve the last great shoreline and given access to the water that will be prohibited by the development at Long Bar.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 11:11 AM with the headline "County could seize Beruff land for third bridge."