BeachBum: Your arguments are specious. Customary Use existed long before you bought your property. You therefore bought it and own it subject to that use. You have lost NOTHING. You never owned what you are trying to steal.
One of owners' arguments is the threat of spending millions to fight Customary Use. I agree with Commander, Jones, Chapman and Anderson: Bring it on!
You are entitled to your opinion but not your own facts. The facts are customary use doctrine was ruled FLA Supreme court case Reynolds that it can only be applied on a case by case basis and on a particular piece of beach - meaning per property owner. Secondly, customary use must be uninterrupted use meaning the property owner did not dispute the use. In many cases there is well documented disputes that go back 50 years. You know nothing of the particular beach area this poster is referencing and have no history on it to state that it is subject to customary use doctrine. There is nothing in the deed (it's what the law goes by --- not some ridiculous power point presentation from that "Dr" showing pictures of Native Indians using the beach and claiming there's been no disputes until the last 10 years --- looks like a high school student put that together). There's no easements on these deeds for public use and the county has been more than happy to assess and collect taxes on it --- so there's nothing factual about your statement "You therefore bought it and own it subject to that use" --- that's your opinion --- that's not supported by any facts. On the contrary these 7,000 parcels have lost a projected $2 billion in value, and up to $18 million in lost annual taxes to the county. Again, calling it "nothing" just shows a lack of basic understanding of property ownership and bundle of rights in this country. I guarantee you want those rights for your own property --- but it seems to just fine with you to take them away from someone else, in fact 7,000 of them. That's hypocritical to say the least.
Let's take a different example and see if it passes your "this land is open and free without borders" test:
There's 250 acres of woods North of 30a which I have hunted for 40 years now and my father and grandfather before that going back five generations back to the Native Indians. It's been owned by several folks, many I've never met, but except for a couple of owners they have all let us hunt this land freely. A few parcel owners have been hunt clubs and they tell us that's their land to hunt and we can't hunt there anymore. There's been a few houses put on one of the parcels and they don't want us hunt there anymore but they said we could walk though their properties to get to the other areas.
Hunting is getting harder and harder these days with all the developments going in and I really don't like hunting on state land - I much prefer to continue using that 250 acres of woods that I know so well. Of course I don't own that land and I've never paid a dime for it or any taxes on it --- I'm told it's "private property" so what can I do, I really want to keep hunting there? So, I went down to the county and complained that I couldn't continue to use the woods like I used to and was getting run off. The county hired some out of town attorney and some Dr put together some of my family photos going way back of me and my kin hunting on the land. The county passed a customary use ordinance that all woodlands North of 30A are open to the public to hunt freely and without interference. Now I can bring all my buddies and we can have hunting parties any place we like. Can't wait to set up our deer stands in the back yard of those houses --- that was once my favorite spot to shoot deer, they have really made it into a nice area with lanes and food plots and the lawn area is kept so nice --- that's now my new favorite spot, I'll be there everyday.
You good with that? See nothing wrong with it? You own property in Walton county?
