DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A beach-advocacy group known as Sons of the Beach, based in Volusia County, is urging the county to stop all new construction on area beaches until further notice.

The group met with county leaders and residents over the weekend to make the recommendation.

In a letter to the Volusia County council the group requested the following:

• Pause all new construction along area beaches until further notice.

• Collect scientific data and present findings to the public and county.

• Develop a long-range plan to preserve coastal environment.

The recommendation comes after last year’s hurricanes that caused extensive damage across the Volusia County coastline.

Approximately 50 residents and city leaders attended the meeting on Saturday to hear the details of the group's request to halt all future construction east of highway A1A.

Dr. Wendy Anderson, director of environmental studies at Stetson University, spoke to the group about climate change and its effect on the Florida coast.

She noted that melting ice caps, along with thermal expansion of the ocean (more water molecules), is causing the shoreline to shrink, with the area losing about an inch of coast every three years. 

Dr. Anderson argued that something needs to change. “We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome," said Anderson. "We can’t keep expecting the government, no matter at whatever level, county, state, and federal level to bailout property owners.”

The Sons of the Beach organization is putting together a formal proposal and plans to present it to the Volusia County Council in March.

The group was created in 1984 to stop beach tolls in the area. In 2015, the organization sued Volusia County over a law that shrunk beach-driving zones. The group was unsuccessful in their legal challenge.