Pinellas County commissioners on Monday approved a countywide ordinance banning people from disrupting sand dunes. The county believes sand dunes provide a lot of benefits. “When a storm surge comes in, they help to hold that back a little bit but once they erode, they also knock down the wave energy,” Coastal Management Coordinator Dr. John Bishop said. The new ordinance says people caught damaging dunes could face a fine of up to $10,000. “If we run all over the dunes, we're going to trample them down, we're going to knock the sand down, we're also not going to allow a chance for the sea oats to help hold those dunes together,” Dr. Bishop said. Many neighbors like Ken Smith said those sand dunes are not needed. He said it didn't help much when it came to protecting them from last year's storms. “If you're worried about the dunes being there, you better put the shoreline out first,” Smith said. Smith believes the best protection is beach renourishment. “We've had tropical storms come in before that are so strong, it's like taking a knife right down the beach with the sand dunes, cutting it and just washing it out,” Smith said. The county is asking residents for property rights to do projects like renourishment and dune restoration. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/pinellas-county-sand-dunes-damage-ban/67-8622d45d-b9e2-4b50-bffb-eee776e3de6b