Led away in Handcuffs

[yippie]

I'm just stating fact. Let's keep this on the up and up.

What part of my post do you feel is not on the up and up?

 

[scooterbug44]

I am such a big city girl.

I used to be too - that's my only allowed security "lapse"!

 

[Jdarg]

I have a little question.

Am I allowed to walk past and through these private beaches? Or will I get yelled at?

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

I've got a couple of questions for Bobby J:

You implied earlier that you were going to "pop" this thing. Understood.

The only way would be for the "public" or an individual on behalf of the "public" (or something along these lines) to hire an attorney and pursue a SINGLE property owner or association as they would have to apparently prove their position on a "case by case" basis.

It's no secret that the Retreat is very aggressive at defending their property. It is now known (thanks to BeachSiO2) that several homes on 30A in Blue Mountain Beach with their private deeded beach access to "nowhere" could be really screwed if this thing isn't resolved. (BTW, if I were any part of a real estate transaction and all of this was not disclosed, I'd be a little concerned right now.)

Let's say, Walton county steps in and initiates litigation. Would they have to pursue each and every private property owner separately? Any idea how long that would take? How much that would cost?

Let me assure you, there are, for lack of better words, very DEEP pockets at the Retreat and I would assume their neighbor would join in the defense. This thing could be tied up for years.


So Bobby, are you guys going after the Retreat?


Again, I blame past and present county commissioners for this ridiculous predicament...continual approval of inland developments with no apparent strategy for addressing the beach private property issue.

There is no question the "solution" to this WHOLE thing hinges on beach renourishment and the Florida Supreme Court not for the renourishment itself, but for the public access afforded to them by this process. The hurricanes and associated erosion are definitely a friend of inland property owners in this regard, in my opinion. Sounds weird, I know.

 

[yucarenow]

Hey guys, I work for the Walton Sun and am working on a beach privatization piece for this week's publication. I would very much like to talk to you about this issue....We at the Sun feel that this issue is one of the most important issues of the year and want to cover it from all angles and report the absolute truth on public access and the ever-changing law enforcement policies.

If this is important to you, contact us, we want to hear your side of the story!

-Sean

sean_boone@link.freedom.com
850-267-4555
850-341-7095

 

[Darwin]

We were interviewed by a NWF Daily News reporter this afternoon about our family's trespassing violation. The reporter seems to be looking into if there is an increase in these enforcements/encounters between owners and tourist. My wife's impression is that the reporter thinks this happens every July 4th holiday but the reporter is looking into the possibility of an upward trend. You guys will know better than us regarding enforcement patterns. When it happens to you your perception is that its happening to everyone else.

Beware for this is a legal interpretation by a scientist. I see a couple of possible lawsuits but not from us:

1. The obvious suit regarding public access to the beach vs. private property
2. False advertising from the county and state regarding beach access to vacationers
3. Entrapment by the police due to to the county's false advertising
4. Selective and inconsistent enforcement by the police of poorly defined laws
5. America's all time favorite; a "pain and suffering" suite against the property owner and county for not posting the property as private. The kids just can't sleep at night because of the nightmares! They will never trust the police again! Not really but it would play to an American jury.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Actually, it is not. Unfortunately this happened a few times last year also.

I knew of some Stallworth property having a sign posted on the beach last year. Are you referring directly to the Inn at BMtn and The Retreat?

 

[yippie]

Part of this came to a head last year in the City of Destin. It was mostly the beach service people running visitors off. And rudely so.

The City got together with the Okaloosa County Sheriff and decided on a 20 ft. "barrier". If you are within 20 feet of the water, the sheriff will not intervien, however, if you are over the 20 ft mark, then the Sheriff could take action. What that action is, basically asking you to move.

I haven't heard of many problems this year.

 

[Smiling JOe]

You stated that the property owner should not interfere with the public's use.

Once more, for clarity, here's your quote...
"If the r e c r e a t i o n a l use of the sandy area adjacent to mean
high tide has been ancient, reasonable, without i n t e r r u p t i o n
and free from dispute, such use, as a matter of custom, should
not be i n t e r f e r e d with by the owner."

You apparently have determined on your own that the "IF" applies to every private gulf front property in Walton County without concrete evidence and without any real and meaningful interpretation to my post #122 as to what defines public use of the beach. I'm not criticizing that you don't have all the answers, but it appears to me that on the same hand you can not simply say the "IF" part has been fulfilled and therefore the private owner should not interfere.

If this were the case, we would be discussing something else right now.

One of the "IF" conditions in your quote above states that the use be "free from dispute". What is the definition of "dispute" as used here? That idea is certainly not the case today.

Not totally true. I stated that the FL Supreme Court stated ....

Also, you quoted only the first half of what I typed. Perhaps if you read the second paragraph, you wouldn't jump to conclusions based on half of what I say. ;-) I have mentioned numerous times in this thread that the FL Supreme Court stated in Tona-Rama, that each case could be unique and would be handled in a case by case situation. You see what you want to see in my post. (Sounds like a repeating situation from the Village at Redfish.)


Furthermore, I don't have concrete evidence that the beach at The Retreat has been used by the public for many years. My guess is that the owners in The Retreat also lack concrete evidence to the contrary.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Several rental houses have lock boxes on their porch or another undisclosed place in case the guest gets locked out.

Also, you can always hide a key somewhere so you don't have to risk loosing them.

Plus, The Retreat is a gated community, so homeowners may be more likely to leave their doors unlocked. I for one, don't even take my wallet (ID) to the beach.