I figured someone would eventually make that jump...
My point is that unattended, non-stationary beach items pose a hazard to other people, nearby buildings, and to the Gulf and the lakes. Who do you think should be responsible if these unattended items go flying and injure a person, bust out someone's plate glass window, or end up in the Eastern Lake outflow where kids swim and fish and crabs dine and socialize?
Littering is littering. If they walk off and leave the stuff on a public beach and you are going to call it trash then take it, throw it away, and arrest the culprits.
The point that seems to be missed, is that no one has declared all of the beaches public. Some of the property is private. The county needs to just go ahead and raise the millage rate up to the maximum and since an argument could be made that the beach is a great public purpose, take the land through the process, reduce the values and compensate the owners. Then the whole stretch is public and picking up the trash left is no longer a problem.
But what the majority seems to want to do is take control of someone else's property. Now that may sound good, but so far it appears the lawyers are saying that it can not be done. That darn Constitution just keeps getting in the way. And while many may wish to shred that document, I believe that is why Jefferson was so strongly in favor of the 2nd amendment, as well as the other nine.
As for who is responsible, since there is foreseeability and since the property owner would have a duty to maintain, if something happens like that because they did not go out and clean the stuff off themselves, then I would think that they would get to enjoy the liability.