Beaches Of South Walton TDC agrees to support customary use of beaches

[Winnie]

So does this mean it's o.k. with you that the same holds true for our bayfront, bayou front, river front, lake front properties too. Can we set up on someone's bayfront shoreline with a chair, food and drink, radio, frisbee and fishing gear for a family get together?

What, exactly, is the difference?

I know this one. This refers to navigable lakes and rivers.

"The Ordinary High Water Boundary

The boundary between publicly owned navigable waters and adjacent privately owned uplands is the ordinary high water boundary. Two seventy-two year-old Florida Supreme Court decisions definitively addressed how the ordinary high water boundary is located in Florida. The first case states that the ordinary high water boundary represents just what the words suggest: the ordinary reach of high water during the year. Thus, the boundary is, in general, the normal or average reach of water during the high water season.(16) The term "ordinary" excludes floods and other unusual high water events but includes the average high water of each year.(17) In determining the location of the boundary, Florida Supreme Court cases recognize the state's unique topography and differentiate between steep-banked and flat-banked water bodies. On steep-banked water bodies, the boundary is located where the presence and action of water has wrested the bank of vegetation and left a visible mark. However, on low, flat-banked water bodies - most lakes and streams south of Orlando - there is no well-defined mark, and the boundary is located where the presence of the water prevents the cultivation of ordinary agricultural crops. In 1927, the Florida Supreme Court also ruled that where the shore of a water body is low, flat, and vegetated, ordinary high water can be determined by locating water marks on local objects such as dock pilings and trees.(18)"
- The Public Trust Doctrine And Florida's Navigable Lakes And Rivers
​

 

[kzbird]

I've got 30 years of pictures of myself, family members and friends all up and down the beaches of SoWal to document my "customary use". Blue Mtn. is truly my 2nd home and great escape. My family and I own 2 houses right off the water and a gulf front condo and we believe there's enough beach for everyone. These beaches have always been public.(Unfortunately our condo assoc. doesn't like our view) I'm sick and tired of the "this is my beach" crap. I'm ready to submit my pictures to the commission as proof and I'll testify as a gulf front homeowner as well that these beaches need to stay open and accessible to everyone.

 

[AAbsolute]

I know this one. This refers to navigable lakes and rivers.

"The Ordinary High Water Boundary

The boundary between publicly owned navigable waters and adjacent privately owned uplands is the ordinary high water boundary. Two seventy-two year-old Florida Supreme Court decisions definitively addressed how the ordinary high water boundary is located in Florida. The first case states that the ordinary high water boundary represents just what the words suggest: the ordinary reach of high water during the year. Thus, the boundary is, in general, the normal or average reach of water during the high water season.(16) The term "ordinary" excludes floods and other unusual high water events but includes the average high water of each year.(17) In determining the location of the boundary, Florida Supreme Court cases recognize the state's unique topography and differentiate between steep-banked and flat-banked water bodies. On steep-banked water bodies, the boundary is located where the presence and action of water has wrested the bank of vegetation and left a visible mark. However, on low, flat-banked water bodies - most lakes and streams south of Orlando - there is no well-defined mark, and the boundary is located where the presence of the water prevents the cultivation of ordinary agricultural crops. In 1927, the Florida Supreme Court also ruled that where the shore of a water body is low, flat, and vegetated, ordinary high water can be determined by locating water marks on local objects such as dock pilings and trees.(18)"
- The Public Trust Doctrine And Florida's Navigable Lakes And Rivers​

Thanks much for your clear and direct response.

Doesn't it sound to you like the intent of the law and Article X, Section 11 of the Florida Constitution preserve public rights in Florida's Navigable Lakes and Rivers for Navigation? The premis is based wholly on the ancient theory of pre-highway navigation for industry.

 

[Winnie]

Thanks much for your clear and direct response.

Doesn't it sound to you like the intent of the law and Article X, Section 11 of the Florida Constitution preserve public rights in Florida's Navigable Lakes and Rivers for Navigation? The premis is based wholly on the ancient theory of pre-highway navigation for industry.

Hmmm. Maybe.

But I know it means I can walk along, sit, and fish from the shore up to the ordinary high water line.;-)

 

[AAbsolute]

Hmmm. Maybe.

But I know it means I can walk along, sit, and fish from the shore up to the ordinary high water line.;-)

That makes this whole story much more interesting now. There're all sorts of interesting public access versus trespass side effects.

 

[scooterbug44]

What exactly are the side effects? We live in a community, not a desert island, so other people - whether they be neighbors or visitors - are a fact of daily life.

I really don't understand how people on a beach is different from any other typical use or easement - there are both good and bad aspects of it. I grew having to close my drapes so I didn't give the fisherman a show from my backyard/lakefront window, policing the illegal actions of people in the park next door, shoveling sidewalks so other people could walk on them, and will spend time tomorrow removing the trash people on the multi-use path have thrown in my yard.

 

[AAbsolute]

What exactly are the side effects? We live in a community, not a desert island, so other people - whether they be neighbors or visitors - are a fact of daily life.

I really don't understand how people on a beach is different from any other typical use or easement - there are both good and bad aspects of it. I grew having to close my drapes so I didn't give the fisherman a show from my backyard/lakefront window, policing the illegal actions of people in the park next door, shoveling sidewalks so other people could walk on them, and will spend time tomorrow removing the trash people on the multi-use path have thrown in my yard.

This sounds eutopic to me and I'm glad it worked for you. It would be great if brother and sisterly love would spread across the country.

I hear you saying that this issue of the beach being in the public's domain is not limited to gulf front beach, but also all other shorelines in Florida. That concept expressed evenly is not hypocritical at all. I think you are correct in that if the State and County grant the beach as trespass free then they also grant the shores of the bay, bayous, rivers and lakes as trespass free.

Some people have an expectancy of privacy on the land in their Deed. There's also an older principle about a man's home/castle.

 

[John R]

people walk along the shore and shallows of the bay all the time, crabbing and fishing. I never ran them off or saw them run off by anyone else.

 

[Winnie]

This sounds eutopic to me and I'm glad it worked for you. It would be great if brother and sisterly love would spread across the country.

I hear you saying that this issue of the beach being in the public's domain is not limited to gulf front beach, but also all other shorelines in Florida. That concept expressed evenly is not hypocritical at all. I think you are correct in that if the State and County grant the beach as trespass free then they also grant the shores of the bay, bayous, rivers and lakes as trespass free.

Some people have an expectancy of privacy on the land in their Deed. There's also an older principle about a man's home/castle.

People may not get privacy on their deeded land adjacent to a navigable waterway nor a public roadway, golf course, etc. Inside their home/castle, they do.

 

[scooterbug44]

A man's home is his castle - not his yard! That's why you can't walk around your front yard naked.

P.S. If you want privacy in your home/castle, the solution is called "curtains" not "private beach".