Protect Florida Beaches and Access for All. Repeal the law...

[Teresa]

Our US Senator Bill Nelson visited South Walton Beaches yesterday and is calling for repeal of the law. I appreciate his attention here and everyone who has helped bring attention to our situation in Walton County...

Good overview by Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
JULY 27 2018
Allow public access to public beaches | Editorial

On Friday, standing before a “no trespassing” sign on a Walton County beach, Nelson urged the governor to hold a special legislative session to repeal the law. "The governor's executive … only added to the confusion,” he said. “This law is establishing a terrible precedent for the selfish interests of a few property owners.”

Florida’s beaches have long been largely open to all, thanks to the Florida Constitution, even if sometimes finding a public path onto a beach can be a challenge.

"Even the governor notes the mess this law has created.

How about a repeal, lawmakers? The governor’s executive order is insufficient. Sure, he can suspend prosecutions, but the law still stands.

Rather than gum up the courts with new challenges, why not revert to local rules? Let’s protect our economy by protecting beach access for all... "

Thanks for visiting Senator Nelson

 

[Teresa]

Editorial: Bury confusing beach access law in sand

The Gainesville Sun
http://www.gainesville.com/opinion/20180731/editorial-bury-confusing-beach-access-law-in-sand

"Gov. Rick Scott managed to threaten the foundation of Florida’s economy by signing into law House Bill 631, limiting beach access, effective July 1.

Our “environmental governor” then compounded the error with his ham-handed July 19 executive order, trying to moonwalk away by basically telling local authorities not to enforce the property rights measure.

The result is confusion and frustration for residents from Palm Beach County to the Panhandle, and particularly the millions of economy-boosting visitors, for whom the state’s prime attraction – 825 miles of Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Intracoastal Waterway sand and surf – is secondary only to its subtropical climate.

Imagine being a Florida native enjoying free access to this unique public asset all one’s life, now being told one is trespassing on it. Perhaps worse is to be a tourist, drawn specifically by the prospect of enjoying these much-marketed, world-renowned shores, now being told you can face arrest because what you thought was public beach is now somehow private.

This affront to Florida residents and tourists alike needs to be shelved, and then repealed.

It seems like forever, before Scott stepped in it, that this used to be simple: The Florida Constitution guarantees that every inch of Florida’s beaches is public land up to the average high water line, namely, the wet sand.

Comes now this new law, the first of its kind in the country, voiding the public’s traditional “customary use” of dry sand. Instead, it allows property owners to claim the dry sand — where the beach is narrow — in front of their homes as private property. And local officials cannot designate the area for public access without first holding public hearings and going before a judge.

The law has recklessly escalated tensions, especially in places such as the Panhandle, where property owners have called private security officers and sheriff deputies on beachgoers the owners claimed were trespassing on legally purchased land.

This is exactly the type of problem a governor should be expected to eliminate, rather than foster, for a state’s citizens and visitors from around the world.

Instead, Scott bowed to the interests that got the measure overwhelmingly passed, with the clearly intended consequence of allowing beachfront owners to kick people off sandy property contrary to customary use.

“I’m committed to keeping our beaches open to the public and this executive order makes this commitment clear,” the governor now says, telling counties “to protect public beach access” after the “considerable confusion” he caused. The state Department of Environmental Protection must create a website for reporting access problems, he says, and governments shouldn’t take any further steps to restrict it.

These steps, of course, should have happened first.

Scott should have protected the state’s vital economic interests, rather than signing the measure into law. Instead, leadership from this governor again has proved as elusive and slippery as trying to hold onto a fistful of sand and water.

This affront to Florida residents and tourists alike needs to be shelved, and then repealed."

 

[steel1man]

I second!!

Editorial: Bury confusing beach access law in sand

The Gainesville Sun
Editorial: Bury confusing beach access law in sand - Opinion - Gainesville Sun - Gainesville, FL

"Gov. Rick Scott managed to threaten the foundation of Florida’s economy by signing into law House Bill 631, limiting beach access, effective July 1.

Our “environmental governor” then compounded the error with his ham-handed July 19 executive order, trying to moonwalk away by basically telling local authorities not to enforce the property rights measure.

The result is confusion and frustration for residents from Palm Beach County to the Panhandle, and particularly the millions of economy-boosting visitors, for whom the state’s prime attraction – 825 miles of Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Intracoastal Waterway sand and surf – is secondary only to its subtropical climate.

Imagine being a Florida native enjoying free access to this unique public asset all one’s life, now being told one is trespassing on it. Perhaps worse is to be a tourist, drawn specifically by the prospect of enjoying these much-marketed, world-renowned shores, now being told you can face arrest because what you thought was public beach is now somehow private.

This affront to Florida residents and tourists alike needs to be shelved, and then repealed.

It seems like forever, before Scott stepped in it, that this used to be simple: The Florida Constitution guarantees that every inch of Florida’s beaches is public land up to the average high water line, namely, the wet sand.

Comes now this new law, the first of its kind in the country, voiding the public’s traditional “customary use” of dry sand. Instead, it allows property owners to claim the dry sand — where the beach is narrow — in front of their homes as private property. And local officials cannot designate the area for public access without first holding public hearings and going before a judge.

The law has recklessly escalated tensions, especially in places such as the Panhandle, where property owners have called private security officers and sheriff deputies on beachgoers the owners claimed were trespassing on legally purchased land.

This is exactly the type of problem a governor should be expected to eliminate, rather than foster, for a state’s citizens and visitors from around the world.

Instead, Scott bowed to the interests that got the measure overwhelmingly passed, with the clearly intended consequence of allowing beachfront owners to kick people off sandy property contrary to customary use.

“I’m committed to keeping our beaches open to the public and this executive order makes this commitment clear,” the governor now says, telling counties “to protect public beach access” after the “considerable confusion” he caused. The state Department of Environmental Protection must create a website for reporting access problems, he says, and governments shouldn’t take any further steps to restrict it.

These steps, of course, should have happened first.

Scott should have protected the state’s vital economic interests, rather than signing the measure into law. Instead, leadership from this governor again has proved as elusive and slippery as trying to hold onto a fistful of sand and water.

This affront to Florida residents and tourists alike needs to be shelved, and then repealed."

Today at 7:45 AMReport
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[boomerang]

You can thank Mr. Mike Huckabee (who owns beach front in Walton County) and Florida Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran for this mess - a deal was made.

Not to mention Governor Scott owns beach front in Naples - whose representative introduced this bill.

Walton County can not win with the constraints a judge has to consider in this bill.

The only solution is to repeal.

The bill summary states no fiscal impact for the bill - oh - tourism tanks and no fiscal impact.

 

[Emerald Drifter]

The "Get Out of My Yard" fogeys have won a battle. But they wont win the war.

Oregon

The history of the "Oregon Beach Bill". See if any of this sounds familiar:
History
Oregon's public lands claim was challenged in 1966, when Cannon Beach motel owner William Hay fenced some dry sands above the high tide line and reserved it for private use.[2][3] After citizens complained to the state government, state legislators put forward the Oregon Beach Bill, modeled on the Texas Open Beaches Act. Conservative Republicans and coastal developers called the bill a threat to private property rights, and it nearly died in the legislature.[1][4] In response, Republican Governor Tom McCall staged a dramatic media event on May 13, 1967, flying two helicopters to the beach with a team of surveyors and scientists. The ensuing media coverage resulted in overwhelming public demand for the bill. The bill was passed by the legislature in June and signed by McCall on July 6, 1967.[1][3]

The Beach Bill declares that all "wet sand" within sixteen vertical feet of the low tide line belongs to the state of Oregon.[5] In addition, it recognizes public easements of all beach areas up to the line of vegetation, regardless of underlying property rights. The public has "free and uninterrupted use of the beaches," and property owners are required to seek state permits for building and other uses of the ocean shore.[6] While some parts of the beach remain privately owned, state and federal courts have upheld Oregon’s right to regulate development of those lands and preserve public access.

 

[steel1man]

This fall when the county (BCC) holds it annual end of summer review ( watch for date) & when they resend the 50%+ of State own public beaches now given away freely to The vendors. A lot of these intrusion problems will vanish. There are miles of public beach to use with NO need to sit on so-called private property.

 

[steel1man]

#GiveBackOurPublicBeaches. 100%

 

[lazin&drinkin]

But for the remark about "struggling economy", this kinda sounds like Walton County. Expropriation of private property by decree didn't work in Zimbabwe, won't work in S. Africa, and, one might expect were the mob to have its way, won't work in Walton either.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday nuked the prospect of significant improvements to his nation's struggling economy.

He did this by confirming that his ruling African National Congress party would, "through the parliamentary process, finalize the proposed amendment to the constitution that outlines more clearly the conditions under which expropriation of land without compensation can be effected."

This means that the South African government will be able to seize farms and other large land tracts without paying their owners. The expropriation of white-held land is a populist interest for many in the ANC, but it's also a longstanding demand of the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters party, which uses the issue to siphon off support from the ANC's left.

 

[miznotebook]

There's a good novel that came out in 2016 about the settlement of South Africa by Europeans, Who Killed Piet Barol by Richard Mason.