# New law closes many beaches to public



## Sailor50 (Nov 8, 2007)

Just heard that a new state law (House Bill 631) will come into effect July 1 that essentially privatizes all beaches in Florida except those with public parks. In other words, you can go to the beach using a city, county or state park but if you walk on dry sand in front of a condo or house, you are now trespassing. Big change if you use the beach much. Gov Scott signed the law already (He owns several beach front properties in Naples) so now is the time to start talking to our state representatives. Big change from the law now in favor of the condos. Money talks... Google New Florida Beach Law for more info.


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## Eglinhunter (Apr 1, 2012)

If this passes do us tax payers still have to foot the bill when it gets washed away?


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## Sailor50 (Nov 8, 2007)

It has already passed. It will become law on July 1, 2018. Gov Scott already signed it. And, yes you the taxpayer will have to pay for new sand when it gets washed away. Our state rep Mel Ponder voted for it. He was a real estate person here before he became mayor and then rep. I have already emailed him asking him why he voted for it. Everyone else needs to start talking to their state reps/senator.


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## tbaxl (Mar 13, 2013)

Wow, cant believe that such a thing would pass and i mean that. You florida folks need to find some new people to vote for, hopefully law suits will soon follow.


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

Wow, the the general pubic just took it up the ass when it comes to beach restoration.
Public funds for private property?

I take it anything below the high tide line is still fair game for accessibility?
ETA: Yep the high tide line is still free game.

Reading some news articles, this is a very unpopular new law with many people including mayors of several cities.
This will create some bad scenes on beaches as property owners try to assert their new property rights with beach goers.


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## JoeyWelch (Sep 25, 2009)

Dang!


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)




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## softbutchharley (Jan 19, 2016)

Just wow !!! Gonna read up and find out what I MISSED !!! Here we go with the beach walking/shell collecting police .... just wow.................


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## softbutchharley (Jan 19, 2016)

Pardon the actual post, but I thought this was an important info on this topic. TY 

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/r...ake-many-of-floridas-beaches-private-10231813


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

Sounds great for tourism...


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## sbrettphill (Aug 21, 2016)

If I owned a beach house and 20 people say uninvited people are partying where I paid for that fishing spot-I should reserve the right to have them leave. I don’t own one but just saying. Should people have the right to pass through?-Absolutely. What if I wanted to stroll down the beach past other private properties? Now will they post no trespassing signs?


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

sbrettphill said:


> If I owned a beach house and 20 people say uninvited people are partying where I paid for that fishing spot-I should reserve the right to have them leave. I don’t own one but just saying. Should people have the right to pass through?-Absolutely. What if I wanted to stroll down the beach past other private properties? Now will they post no trespassing signs?


no problem if you stay in "wet sand" BUT.... DONT TOUCH MY DRY SAND.... This is so so stupid....


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## Walton County (Aug 23, 2016)

I think this is being misinterpreted. 

There are people down this way(Walton County) who have property deeds to the mean high water line. If you look at the property appraisers website, you can see this depicted for about 50-75% of gulf front homes. These homes sell for about 10-20% more than the homes that do not have deeded gulf front access. Meaning, there are a good amount of people paying considerable money for deeded mean high water line. Consider 75' of gulf front is selling for about 2-2.5 million w/deeded beach.

The county (again Walton County) allows a metric ton of beach vendors to go all along the beach and stake out beach chairs throughout. This is what started/perpetuated all the strife. Homeowners and beach goers are pissed because vendors have all the beach taken up with their chairs/umbrellas and other crap for rent. Homeowners(a few) got rowdy pissed about it and tried several different means to remove them. This meant enforcing their private property rights. 

A bunch of them banded together(mostly Seaside and Rosemary) went and petitioned the governor to review the Customary Use ordinance that had been put into place by the county. This basically said, we have been using it since 1892 and therefore it's public. The legaleese around this was iffy at best and the county is/was well aware a lawsuit woudl be coming. The court would rule in favor of the homeowners and cost the county millions while suffering a huge defeat.

All the governor did was say that the county cannot enforce customary use. He was right to do so. People have a right to private property. The real argument is whether the county had the right to sell the sandy portion of the beach in the first place.

This marching orders being put out that the governor is privatizing the beach is incorrect. This only applies to areas where property deeds show mean high water line. Where I grew up(Bay County) there were none or very few. Where I live now, like i stated earlier(walton county) it makes up 50-75% of the beaches.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Walton County said:


> I think this is being misinterpreted.
> 
> There are people down this way(Walton County) who have property deeds to the mean high water line. If you look at the property appraisers website, you can see this depicted for about 50-75% of gulf front homes. These homes sell for about 10-20% more than the homes that do not have deeded gulf front access.
> 
> ...


Wait a minute......are you saying that someone is trying to sensationalize this story and not telling both sides?:whistling:


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## softbutchharley (Jan 19, 2016)

Well put WaltonCounty  And yes, I am one who runs with stuff sometimes  I understand all that was said. Not sure where I stand, tho I DO support the rights of waterfront land owners to use their land. I guess as stated ..the question is the county right to sell the land in the first place. I truly cannot diss the landowners for wanting the letter of their deeds of purchase followed. That is what was purchased by them. Not sure of resolution, but I too hate all the vendor beach chairs etc creeping along the limits of coastline. Glad I live on the north side of Navarre beach causeway. I hear the beachfront folks are pretty tightened up about it all. I just want to go to the beach and enjoy. I have lots of other beach to access other than "condo land"  The touristas do not tho


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## Walton County (Aug 23, 2016)

softbutchharley said:


> Well put WaltonCounty  And yes, I am one who runs with stuff sometimes  I understand all that was said. Not sure where I stand, tho I DO support the rights of waterfront land owners to use their land. I guess as stated ..the question is the county right to sell the land in the first place. I truly cannot diss the landowners for wanting the letter of their deeds of purchase followed. That is what was purchased by them. Not sure of resolution, but I too hate all the vendor beach chairs etc creeping along the limits of coastline. Glad I live on the north side of Navarre beach causeway. I hear the beachfront folks are pretty tightened up about it all. I just want to go to the beach and enjoy. I have lots of other beach to access other than "condo land"  The touristas do not tho


IMHO, the county really crapped the bed with this. They want the annual tax money from the higher priced properties but also want free reign over the beach. The beach is the economic powerhouse for the tourists. If they have no beach to visit, they will go elsewhere. Well, you can't have it both ways. 
Like you, I am sympathetic to to private property rights but the county never should have sold the property. 

This butthole got a lot of attention a couple of years ago for confronting people like a total idiot.


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## Woody Forbs (Feb 14, 2018)

Let anyone who wants a chair, carry it.

Point "A" to point "B", one by one.

The same goes for an umbrella.

"Just like grandpa did it!"

Central vending locations.

And of course, ... No rules against fishing.


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## MaxxT (May 9, 2015)

As I understand it this does not affect restored beaches as those remain public after restoration...anyone clarify?


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## cnote (Jun 6, 2011)

MaxxT said:


> As I understand it this does not affect restored beaches as those remain public after restoration...anyone clarify?


That's my understanding as well. Went all the way to the SCOTUS- http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/17/scotus.property/index.html


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## Sailor50 (Nov 8, 2007)

I still see this law as a start to get rid of Florida's long "customary use" law allowing people to walk or fish along any beach. Just like the south Florida new laws closing waterways as they are not "navigable". If you want to read the bill, it is here, https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/631/BillText/er/PDF . 
Written in legaleese so hard to understand. But it put the burden on the counties to designate areas of "customary use". And they have to deal with each property owner independently. 

Governor Scott has done a good job on a lot of things but you have to judge him by his actions. I remember having to go to ethics re-education classes when I worked for one of his hospitals after they got caught for medicare fraud. While I support property owners, i do not support their mistakes. Due diligence in buying a beach front property in Florida would show you that you do not own to the water in most cases. I am sure a lot of them came from other states where this is the case, but not here in Florida. Now they want to change the law to what they think it should be.

I have no problem with private property owners enforcing their property rights. If their deed say Mean High Walter Line, then fine. If they have had public paid beach renourishment, then sorry, it is now the Erosion Control line (per Supreme Court). From what I understand, MHL is not the high tide line in a legal sense but the line designated by a state government agency (Have forgotten which one). It could be a ways up the beach from the high tide or wet sand. Pretty complicated. Doesn't really matter what it is as its up to the sheriff here to enforce the law and he has said you can use the sand within 20' of the wet sand and they will not bother you. Will have to write them and see if this law changes things. 

I support the property owners trying to get rid of all of these umbrella folks. They use the public beach here without paying the city or county anything. And at times set them up right on the water where you can not walk. In Destin they are suppose to be back at least 20' from the water. In Panama City, its 30' I believe. Really a matter for the citizens to talk to their representatives, city, county, etc and ensure they have the peoples best interest. I just see this all as a slow erosion of our use of the beaches and it will be eventually like it is up north, very little public beach. OK, rant over.


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## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

I spend a good bit of time at Navarre Beach because we have a house across the street from the Gulf.
Before the latest renourishment, the beach was very narrow. After the renourishment, it was as wide as the length of a football field. It would make no sense for a property owner to suddenly own an acre of gulf front property at the expense of the taxpayers.
Every parking lot is packed out there. I can only imagine how the beach would be if people weren’t allowed to walk down the beach from the parking lot to put out their chairs.
There has been a huge influx of beach goers out there. I was out there two weeks ago and couldn’t believe how many people were on the beach during the week.
It was always deserted in April with plenty of room to fish. Not anymore.


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## Madmooner (Mar 5, 2017)

I fished around Navarre 20 some years ago. Was always empty during the week. Hell, the weekends weren’t even THAT busy.

Those out of the way honey holes are getting fewer and fewer. Folks piling in everywhere.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Beach Access/Use:

All this was brought to a head by rich beachfront property owners here in Walton County, reported to be lead behind the scenes by a former presidential candidate who owns and lives on beach front property. Walton County implemented an ordnance on 'customary use' which historically goes back over 100 years. However, the state with Scotts signature took that away. There was overwhelming opposition from this area urging Scott to veto the bill. A handful of the rich and famous got their way via Scott. Now the whole state is realizing what happened after being blindsided.


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## Penn720 (Nov 1, 2013)

They were talking about this on Pensacola News Talk Radio and the local official on the show said this will have no affect on Pensacola Beach. The leases stop at the Storm High Tide line which is the dune line. He said it could have some minor effects on Perdido Key where 'some' of the properties go past the dune line, but none go to the water line, meaning the public can still use the beach, but can't set up shop up near the dune line, they must remain within 50 of so feet of the water.


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## Yakavelli (Mar 17, 2010)

Channel 3 news showed no trespassing signs posted all the way down to the water at the first parking lot on Perdido Key. Doesn't sound like a minor effect to me.


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## Ez2cDave (Feb 7, 2015)

But that might change in some places around the Sunshine State. Gov. Rick Scott last month signed HB 631, the Possession of Real Property Bill, which on July 1 will give hotels, condos, and private residences more control over the beachfront they own, *all the way to the high-tide line.


*HOWEVER, everything from the "High-Tide Line" to the WATER is NOT under their control . . . Enter from PUBLIC access or PRIVATE property "with permission" . . . Stay below the High-Tide Line . . . PRESTO !


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