The Surfrider Foundation’s Emerald Coast Chapter is celebrating a win for public beach access in Walton County, Florida as, last week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida upheld the County’s
“Customary Use” Ordinance.
Surfrider Foundation is pleased with the Court’s decision on the “customary use” issue in the
Alford v. Walton County case, whereby Justice Rogers upheld the right of Florida counties to recognize, regulate, and protect public beach access where the public has traditionally recreated.
Surfrider previously supported and encouraged the County to recognize and protect the public’s right to continue to utilize its beaches based on a custom of doing so for generations. In 2016, the County did so when it enacted the Customary Use Ordinance, providing that, “The public’s long-standing customary use of the dry sand areas of all of the beaches in the County for recreational purposes is hereby protected.” This case centers around the validity of that ordinance. While acknowledging a “buffer zone,” according to the ordinance, “no individual, group, or entity shall impede or interfere with the right of the public at large, including the residents and visitors of the County, to utilize the dry sand areas of the beach that are owned by private entities for recreational purposes.”