Customary use wins in Federal Court!

[miznotebook]

Yes, the town's beach is only one mile long compared with Walton County's 26 miles of beachfront. The lower legal cost is also because the town did not follow the court process set up in HB 631 for affirming customary use. They just passed a CU ordinance and then when they were sued, they argued customary use as a defense.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

Yes, the town's beach is only one mile long compared with Walton County's 26 miles of beachfront. The lower legal cost is also because the town did not follow the court process set up in HB 631 for affirming customary use. They just passed a CU ordinance and then when they were sued, they argued customary use as a defense.

I'm not sure I see the real difference between Walton County and Redington Beach regarding customary use other than these two facts:
1. Walton County filed suit against all beach front private property owners arguing for CU;
2. Private property owners filed suit against Redington Beach against the CU ordinance.

Here is the timeline for both:

Walton County
Passed CU ordinance on March 28, 2017
Senate/House Bill 163.035 then went into effect on July 1, 2018
County files CU lawsuit on December 11, 2018
County settled customary use lawsuit in June 2023 (private property owners prevailed)

Redington Beach
Passed CU ordinance on June 6, 2018
Senate/House Bill 163.035 went into effect on July 1, 2018
Property owners filed complaint against Redington Beach in June 2019
CU prevails in court on August 12, 2024 (private property owners lost)

Regarding "They just passed a CU ordinance and then when they were sued, they argued customary use as a defense", it doesn't explain why the Walton County Commissioners were advised to abort the lawsuit as I don't see any real difference between Walton County and Redington Beach.

That's all I'm trying to understand.

 

[miznotebook]

There are similarities and differences with Walton County but one big difference was that Walton County interpreted HB 631 as negating their customary use ordinance. Redington Beach did not, and took the position that their CU ordinance was valid regardless of HB 631. The town did not file a court complaint to affirm customary use as Walton County did. The town was sued over the ordinance, and that was how their case went to court. On Walton County's reason or reasons for settling, there is not much information available to the public on why that happened, as most of the discussion took place in closed executive session, but possibly someone has more info. I'm sure many of us would like to know. More details will become public when the case is closed, including all appeals, and there are appeals pending at the First District Court of Appeal.

 

[Lake View Too]

There are similarities and differences with Walton County but one big difference was that Walton County interpreted HB 631 as negating their customary use ordinance. Redington Beach did not, and took the position that their CU ordinance was valid regardless of HB 631. The town did not file a court complaint to affirm customary use as Walton County did. The town was sued over the ordinance, and that was how their case went to court. On Walton County's reason or reasons for settling, there is not much information available to the public on why that happened, as most of the discussion took place in closed executive session, but possibly someone has more info. I'm sure many of us would like to know. More details will become public when the case is closed, including all appeals, and there are appeals pending at the First District Court of Appeal.

"On Walton County's reason or reasons for settling, there is not much information available to the public on why that happened, as most of the discussion took place in closed executive session, but possibly someone has more info. I'm sure many of us would like to know." Miznotebook, you have an invaluable source of information on this site, for many many years, and you absolutely nailed it with this statement.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

There are similarities and differences with Walton County but one big difference was that Walton County interpreted HB 631 as negating their customary use ordinance. Redington Beach did not, and took the position that their CU ordinance was valid regardless of HB 631. The town did not file a court complaint to affirm customary use as Walton County did. The town was sued over the ordinance, and that was how their case went to court. On Walton County's reason or reasons for settling, there is not much information available to the public on why that happened, as most of the discussion took place in closed executive session, but possibly someone has more info. I'm sure many of us would like to know. More details will become public when the case is closed, including all appeals, and there are appeals pending at the First District Court of Appeal.

Thanks for your input. I'm almost certain that just because Redington Beach supposedly didn't withdraw their CU ordinance (educated guess), doesn't mean that CU was valid in Redington Beach when HB 631 went into effect on July 1, 2018. Just like Walton County, I would have assumed the beach property would remain private again after July 1st. And like Walton County, it would have been up to Redington Beach to file suit against the private property owners as mandated in HB 631 to establish CU in court, not via an ordinance. My guess would be that the town didn't back off from CU even though HB 631 should have forced them to. The private property owners then filed suit after having enough. Again, this is an educated guess based on what HB 631 mandates.

BTW, there are only a handful of plaintiffs who filed suit against Redington Beach:
SHAWN BUENDING, ROBERT
DOHMEN, THOMAS K. BROWN,
HARRY S. FIELDS, WENDY
FIELDS, SHAWN MOORE and
DAGMAR MOORE,
PAMELA GREACEN and
ARTHUR L. BUSER, JR.

Contrast this with the hundreds and hundreds of defendants of the Walton County customary use court case. I do wonder if this made any difference. Were the county attorneys inundated by all the many defendants' attorneys and associated legal horsepower?

Regarding the other private beach property owners in Redington Beach that were not involved in the litigation, I don't understand how they could lose their private property rights without litigation.

I just don't see any consistency between Walton County and Redington Beach regarding CU.

 

[bob bob]

So should Walton County pass an ordinance stating all beach is public? Or that all beach allowed to be used by the public?

 

[Lake View Too]

So should Walton County pass an ordinance stating all beach is public? Or that all beach allowed to be used by the public?

That might be a good idea. People that want to challenge that would have to sue the county and prove that CU has NOT been the established doctrine for hundred of years. It all seems to fall back on an "acting county attorney" who is trying to shirk his duties to the people of South Walton.

 

[miznotebook]

The Redington Beach BFOs filed an appeal of the decision on Sept. 10 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

 

[bob1]

Seems like a perfect use for eminent domain.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

The Redington Beach BFOs filed an appeal of the decision on Sept. 10 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Correct.

From this article:

"James S. Moody Jr., the original judge assigned to the case, sided with the plaintiffs in a summary judgment. Without a full trial, he deemed the ordinance invalid on Feb. 19, 2020. His decision threatened access to most of Redington’s dry sand areas.

The Town appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Aug. 20, 2021. The Court of Appeals tossed aside Moody’s summary judgment. Judges ordered a trial for the Buending case. This decision allowed the ordinance to stay in effect.

Moody removed himself from the case in November 2022, and Covington assumed oversight. Robert Eschenfelder, the Town’s attorney, represented Redington Beach throughout the appeals."


So the timeline that I previously posted now includes the above appeal in bold:

Walton County
Passed CU ordinance on March 28, 2017
Senate/House Bill 163.035 then went into effect on July 1, 2018
County files CU lawsuit on December 11, 2018
County settled customary use lawsuit in June 2023 (private property owners prevailed)

Redington Beach
Passed CU ordinance on June 6, 2018
Senate/House Bill 163.035 went into effect on July 1, 2018
Property owners filed complaint against Redington Beach in June 2019
Judge Moody found for the plaintiffs (private property owners) on Feb 19, 2020
Redington Beach appealed to 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on August 20, 2021
11th Circuit threw out Judge Moody's summary judgement and ordered a trial
Judge Moody removed himself and Judge Covington took over
CU prevails in court on August 12, 2024 (private property owners lost)

The above appeal still doesn't explain why Walton County threw in the towel before trial. By the way, the Redington Beach original court case was filed in Federal Court by the plaintiffs as opposed to Walton County filing at the Walton County Court level. Not sure if that made any difference other than possibly Walton County assuming that a local judge would find in favor for the county to begin with, trying to take the wind out of the beach front owners sails (just a guess).