New Galveston Beach Ramp at 57th Street

The Texas General Land Office announced plans to build the $400,000 ramp that will make the beach accessible to people with disabilities.

The project has been on the agency’s wish list for a while, Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. “The primary reason is that folks who have disabilities should not be restricted from access to the beach in front of the seawall.”

Several of the city’s other beach access points — Stewart Beach, Apffel Park and Pocket Parks 2 and 3 — do meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. And the Galveston Park Board of Trustees provides special wheelchairs designed for use on the sand to any disabled visitor who requests one, said Peter Davis, chief of the Galveston Island Beach Patrol.

The new ramp will be built at 57th Street and will take about two months to complete.

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The new beach ramp will be several blocks from the new Diamond Beach Resort which will be located where the seawall ends.

The Texas General Land Office recently proposed new rules that could force coastal cities to push all new beachfront construction farther away from the sand dunes.

The proposed regulations ask coastal cities to adopt a local erosion response plan that includes a building setback equal to 60 times the annual erosion rate.

Although state officials describe the new rules as suggestions, eligibility for grant funding is tied to compliance.

The rules could push construction back as much as 300 feet in some areas of Galveston’s West End, where beaches are eroding at an average of 5 feet per year.

The city of Galveston has a 25-foot setback requirement from the north toe of the dunes.

The state fund supports projects in Galveston, including the planned reconstruction of the beach west of the end of the seawall.

All beach-front property could be subject to a loss in value because of the new rules.

Local governments would have to develop a buyout program for properties that could end up on the beach, seaward of the dunes, after a storm.

The state previously was responsible for purchasing the homes and reclaiming the land as public property, but that expense could now fall to the local governing bodies.