Support Customary Use - Your Input Needed
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A great turnout all weekend at several locations around town! Thanks to all who are donating their time to protect Customary Use of our beaches....
Updated places and dates below:
Updated places and dates below:
Just because you disagree with people having private property doesn’t make it right to steal it.
Don’t forget to post this too on the 30a Facebook and 30a tv too!
Who are you talking to?
For those in our community who are passionate in preserving Customary Use of South Walton Beaches:
We hope to see you at the Customary Use Affidavit BLITZ this Labor Day weekend throughout South Walton such as restaurants, shops, bars, several beach accesses, farmers market and too many places to name here. But we've listed them in the Events Forum - the list is updated hourly. We also hope you'll join and donate to Florida Beaches For All - the local group organizing events and coordinating with Walton County on all of these issues.
Home
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
We hope to see you at the Customary Use Affidavit BLITZ this Labor Day weekend throughout South Walton such as restaurants, shops, bars, several beach accesses, farmers market and too many places to name here. But we've listed them in the Events Forum - the list is updated hourly. We also hope you'll join and donate to Florida Beaches For All - the local group organizing events and coordinating with Walton County on all of these issues.
Home
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
Tim:
When you buy a piece of property, you purchase a bundle of rights. Just because you assume you have the right of exclusion, doesn't mean you have that right. The doctrine of customary use of beachfront has been a common right established a thousand years ago, in English law, well before any of this land was ever platted, and reinforced in Florida law in 1974 with the Daytona vs. Tona-Rama case. Some verbiage from that decision: "There is probably no custom more universal, more natural or more ancient, on the sea-coasts, not only of the United States, but of the world, than that of bathing in the salt waters of the ocean and the enjoyment of the wholesome recreation incident thereto. The lure of the ocean is universal; to battle with its refreshing breakers a delight. Many are they who have felt the lifegiving touch of its healing waters and its clear dustfree air. Appearing constantly to change, it remains ever essentially the same. It is our view that the sporadic exercise of authority and dominion by the owners over the parcel in question was not sufficient to preserve their rights as against the prescriptive rights which accrued to the benefit of the public by its use of the beach area." City of Daytona Beach v. Tona-Rama, Inc., 271 So. 2d 765, p. 767. The land grab, that is being perpetrated by a mob of big money BFO's, is an illegal taking of almost everyone's land values, not to mention a crushing of the collective soul of our community.
When you buy a piece of property, you purchase a bundle of rights. Just because you assume you have the right of exclusion, doesn't mean you have that right. The doctrine of customary use of beachfront has been a common right established a thousand years ago, in English law, well before any of this land was ever platted, and reinforced in Florida law in 1974 with the Daytona vs. Tona-Rama case. Some verbiage from that decision: "There is probably no custom more universal, more natural or more ancient, on the sea-coasts, not only of the United States, but of the world, than that of bathing in the salt waters of the ocean and the enjoyment of the wholesome recreation incident thereto. The lure of the ocean is universal; to battle with its refreshing breakers a delight. Many are they who have felt the lifegiving touch of its healing waters and its clear dustfree air. Appearing constantly to change, it remains ever essentially the same. It is our view that the sporadic exercise of authority and dominion by the owners over the parcel in question was not sufficient to preserve their rights as against the prescriptive rights which accrued to the benefit of the public by its use of the beach area." City of Daytona Beach v. Tona-Rama, Inc., 271 So. 2d 765, p. 767. The land grab, that is being perpetrated by a mob of big money BFO's, is an illegal taking of almost everyone's land values, not to mention a crushing of the collective soul of our community.
Wow. That is a beautiful piece of writing. Thanks for sharing @Lake View Too
What the hey... I just copied and pasted it:
From Joe Burton;
I want to tell you a story. It is a story about a 12 year old boy who moved to Seagrove Beach in 1993 on to a little dirt road called Campbell St. from a grassy suburb outside San Antonio, Texas. That little boy was me. My parents and I pulled up stakes and moved to the beach with a hardly a plan other than to enjoy life to it’s fullest on the sandy shores of South Walton. I was hardly a willing participant. I didn’t like the feel of the sand, nor the sting of the salt water in my eyes, or the blistering heat of the summer sun. But over time, I came to love it. I wandered all over the beach freely. I built sand castles, learned to fish from the water’s edge, and even learned to surf. The beach was a place to enjoy freely, with very little cares. I shared the beach with thousands of people over the years, without a second thought about who “owned the beach.” For the past 25 years, my beach access was at the end of the road across an easement between two condominiums. It is currently maintained by the county as a public access.
On August 30, 2018, on my evening walk with my dog, I encountered a no trespassing sign immediately at the base of the stairs. The beach I have enjoyed for 25 years is no longer one my gulf front neighbors wish to share. The ironic thing about it is that the sandy shoreline in front of both buildings at the base of my access belonged to no one until 2015, when the condos obtained it through a process called “suing for quiet title” They paid no taxes on this property, and still do not today as the property appraiser says it has no value since it is unbuildable. They also paid nothing for the sandy portion of this beach but now want to exclude me and my neighbors from enjoying as we have freely for decades. For hundreds of yards in either direction the sandy portion of the beach is deemed “private”. As I walk my dog along the shores I grew up on, I am now a criminal. My 70 year old mother, who as I am writing this cannot stop crying, wished to spend her remaining years going to the beach she loves and taking an occasional swim, is also a criminal too.
To those Gulf front owners who wish to exclude others from the sand in front of their properties, I implore you to think about what you are doing to your neighbors and your community. Think about what you are doing to the workers who serve your food, clean your pools, and take care of you when you are sick. Think about those tourists who are sitting on our shores and taking long walks along the beach for the first time just as you had at one time. You are doing damage beyond repair to their lives. Look them in the eye next time you are out. They are just like you. They were brought to the beach by an unseen force. To recreate, to heal, to connect. I think if you will look into the hearts of those you are hurting, you will see that your issue is not with us, or them. You are the most fortunate among us. Through life’s trials and tribulations, you have obtained the ultimate prize, a front row seat to one of God’s greatest shows. Please use your fortune for good, and realize that we are all essentially the same. It’s time to stop the needless suffering, and if you act now and take down these signs, we can begin to live again as one people on the shores of South Walton. Use your good fortune to build a longer table, not a higher fence. And remember, “If you are lucky enough to live at the beach, you are lucky enough.”
Thank you,
Joe Burton
From Joe Burton;
I want to tell you a story. It is a story about a 12 year old boy who moved to Seagrove Beach in 1993 on to a little dirt road called Campbell St. from a grassy suburb outside San Antonio, Texas. That little boy was me. My parents and I pulled up stakes and moved to the beach with a hardly a plan other than to enjoy life to it’s fullest on the sandy shores of South Walton. I was hardly a willing participant. I didn’t like the feel of the sand, nor the sting of the salt water in my eyes, or the blistering heat of the summer sun. But over time, I came to love it. I wandered all over the beach freely. I built sand castles, learned to fish from the water’s edge, and even learned to surf. The beach was a place to enjoy freely, with very little cares. I shared the beach with thousands of people over the years, without a second thought about who “owned the beach.” For the past 25 years, my beach access was at the end of the road across an easement between two condominiums. It is currently maintained by the county as a public access.
On August 30, 2018, on my evening walk with my dog, I encountered a no trespassing sign immediately at the base of the stairs. The beach I have enjoyed for 25 years is no longer one my gulf front neighbors wish to share. The ironic thing about it is that the sandy shoreline in front of both buildings at the base of my access belonged to no one until 2015, when the condos obtained it through a process called “suing for quiet title” They paid no taxes on this property, and still do not today as the property appraiser says it has no value since it is unbuildable. They also paid nothing for the sandy portion of this beach but now want to exclude me and my neighbors from enjoying as we have freely for decades. For hundreds of yards in either direction the sandy portion of the beach is deemed “private”. As I walk my dog along the shores I grew up on, I am now a criminal. My 70 year old mother, who as I am writing this cannot stop crying, wished to spend her remaining years going to the beach she loves and taking an occasional swim, is also a criminal too.
To those Gulf front owners who wish to exclude others from the sand in front of their properties, I implore you to think about what you are doing to your neighbors and your community. Think about what you are doing to the workers who serve your food, clean your pools, and take care of you when you are sick. Think about those tourists who are sitting on our shores and taking long walks along the beach for the first time just as you had at one time. You are doing damage beyond repair to their lives. Look them in the eye next time you are out. They are just like you. They were brought to the beach by an unseen force. To recreate, to heal, to connect. I think if you will look into the hearts of those you are hurting, you will see that your issue is not with us, or them. You are the most fortunate among us. Through life’s trials and tribulations, you have obtained the ultimate prize, a front row seat to one of God’s greatest shows. Please use your fortune for good, and realize that we are all essentially the same. It’s time to stop the needless suffering, and if you act now and take down these signs, we can begin to live again as one people on the shores of South Walton. Use your good fortune to build a longer table, not a higher fence. And remember, “If you are lucky enough to live at the beach, you are lucky enough.”
Thank you,
Joe Burton
I totally agree with you
You can look Mr Huckabee and Governor Scott and House Speaker Richard Corcoran in the eye when you deliver this.
They are the primary characters responsible for this mess - and all of OUR representatives in the state legislature who voted yes.
I do not believe we can win in court due to the strict items we have to prove - including EACH PARCEL and "without dispute".
We need to get a petition to repeal bill no 631.
You can look Mr Huckabee and Governor Scott and House Speaker Richard Corcoran in the eye when you deliver this.
They are the primary characters responsible for this mess - and all of OUR representatives in the state legislature who voted yes.
I do not believe we can win in court due to the strict items we have to prove - including EACH PARCEL and "without dispute".
We need to get a petition to repeal bill no 631.