If you have recently been asked to leave the beach by a property owner or law inforcement please contact me. reed66@earthlink.net I would like to hear your story and I may have some information that can help if you would like to get involved. There is a real battle heating up about beach ownership in Florida and there are several lawsuits about to be decided both at the county level and at the State. People need to get involved now. The first thing you can do is e-mail the locall chamber or visitors bureau and let them know you are concerned about spending time and money going to the beaches here if they are not going to be user friendly. You can also e-mail your state lawmakers there are e-mail links to them at www.myflorida.com. Also you can incourage your friends and relatives to do the same. Law enforcement in both Okaloosa and Walton counties have been very inconsistent about how much of the beach is public even though in Okaloosa county they mantain that 20 feet inshore of the wet sand is public. There is a group called the SOB's (Save Our Beaches) that have a law suit at the sate level right now that will decide the fate of Floridas beaches. This is the group of Destin residents that tryed to stop the beach renorishment program. So the clock is running here and people need to get involved. We all know how far from resonable the Florida Supreme court has been in the past.
beach goers harrassed
- Thread starter jay
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About your statement, "...property owners harrassing the public", could it just possibly be the other way around? I too hope this gets resolved, one way or another.There was a segment on channel 13 news Tuesday night regarding "private beach" property owners harrassing the public. This is just the beginning of a long and heated summer.
Hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the a$$..............
Perhaps law enforcement is more consistant than anything else.
It's the "rules" in Destin vs. the "rules" in Walton County that are "inconsistent".
Law enforcement people have a tough job. Let's face it. I'm sure you didn't mean for it to look that way, but let us be very conscious not politicize law enforcement regarding this hot button.
I thought the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office received their guidance from the Florida Attorney General, after request. I wonder if Walton County should also seek guidance from the FL Attorney General. If they did so, perhaps the two would be more consistant.
I thought the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office received their guidance from the Florida Attorney General, after request. I wonder if Walton County should also seek guidance from the FL Attorney General. If they did so, perhaps the two would be more consistant.
Per the Florida Attorney General to the City of Destin:
"Private property owners who hold title to dry sand areas of the beach falling within the jurisdictional limits of the City of Destin may utilize local law enforcement for purposes of reporting incidents of trespass as they occur."
I can't find where it says something like "except if they are within X feet of the water line".
Does anyone know of actual instances where a private property owner in Destin called the Okaloosa sheriff to run off a "parked-on-dry-sand" tourist and the sheriff did not?
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So, it's not the rip currents, red tide, sharks or jellyfish we need to worry about? In my simple liitle world, it seems to me that there are way too many inconsistencies along the Beaches of South Walton to ever get the law and the rules to be uniform. How in the heck fire will the good visitors to our area ever get it straight?
In my simple liitle world, it seems to me that there are way too many inconsistencies along the Beaches of South Walton to ever get the law and the rules to be uniform. How in the heck fire will the good visitors to our area ever get it straight?
My personal opinion on the matter is as follows:
I realize certain property owners have deeded rights to the high mean water line. If there is a public notice "private beach" beachgoers should respect that.
There is 100 miles or so of public beach...........move or go somewhere else.
I just feel if this gets blown out of control with the media, it could have an effect on the tourist. They just don't need harrasment when they come to the beach to have fun.
