treymerrill
Beach Comber
Sorry if I de-railed the original intent of this post.
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beach goers harrassed
- Thread starter jay
- Start date
Andy A
Beach Fanatic
You didn't derail anything.
to the forum. I found your short bio very interesting particularly since I flew for both the Air Force and the Army. I hope you get to see your dream come true. Fortunately, I have and live on the greatest place on earth, IMO, Blue Mountain Beach. If everyone would learn to share the beach, as it should be, we would be just fine.
to the forum. I found your short bio very interesting particularly since I flew for both the Air Force and the Army. I hope you get to see your dream come true. Fortunately, I have and live on the greatest place on earth, IMO, Blue Mountain Beach. If everyone would learn to share the beach, as it should be, we would be just fine.Blue Mtn Mama
Beach Comber
Do we have a definitive answer here? This happened to us this past memorial day weekend. The beach in front of The Retreat was cleared by a security guard...for no reason! The beach was empty! It didn't appear that anyone from The Retreat even used the beach! I was and still am very angry this happened. As a property owner on Snapper St I will gladly take up the cause if someone can point me in the right direction of
the law and the "ownership" of the beach. This PUBLIC beach access is the closest one to where we live and I certainly won't tolerate being harassed all summer. Has the law been determined to be public beach on wet sand or high water mark? If its high water mark I'll measure it off at its peak this summer and call a sheriff to confirm the spot if I have to. Everyone was having a wonderful day then the whole security guard incident put a cloud over the mood of the entire beach. Terrible!
the law and the "ownership" of the beach. This PUBLIC beach access is the closest one to where we live and I certainly won't tolerate being harassed all summer. Has the law been determined to be public beach on wet sand or high water mark? If its high water mark I'll measure it off at its peak this summer and call a sheriff to confirm the spot if I have to. Everyone was having a wonderful day then the whole security guard incident put a cloud over the mood of the entire beach. Terrible!
blue mountain. isn't the public beach access on both sides of the public access very narrow? did he try to get you to move from the public area are people strayed onto the retret area?The high water mark is the avg amount the tide comes in over a 17 or 18 yr period which unless they hire a full time surveyor to commute daily its not legal. You can 1005stay in the wet sand are an up to min 10 feet above it and he can't do crap. as you can see from the oldness of this note its been going on for 6-8 yrs. it died own the last 2 yrs after destin lost the supreme ct decision for owners to not allow nourishment of san on there property which kin of says the beach I the countrys and not orivate. 2 yrs ago I sat were I wanted on a private beach and the life guars aske me to move dily but admitted there was nothing they could do.don't let anyone bully you
The issue is who pays the bills and what is the definition of beach. I understand but do not agree with why the property owners believe that he/she owns the beach. At some point the county will have to define beach and enforce as human behavior needs clear guidelines on how to behave. A much bigger debate is how to control the destructive nature of human beings. Human behavior is destructive to the environment whether they leave trash on the beach or build on top of a dune. In a bigger picture I believe we are struggling to find a proper balance of development and environmental intrusion.
Andy A
Beach Fanatic
Once again the owners at the Retreat show the stupidity and arrognance of those with an overabundance of money and little thought of the everyday working citizen! For those interested, contact your legislator, BCC Commissoner, and any legal access you may have to the Florida Supreme Court. It is time for Florida to recognize that the beaches belong to ALL and those that commenced the practice of putting beaches as "private property" in deeds did so with the sole purpose of selling beach property and, if the truth were known, probably didn't have the authority to do so in the first place. I'd be ashamed to admit I was a Retreat owner.
Blue Mtn Mama
Beach Comber
During the last year and a half I've seen dredgers, cranes and heavy equipment restoring the beach and dunes in front of The Retreat. According to the US Supreme Ct decision upholding Florida in its case with the Destin homeowners suing over the restoration here:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1151.pdf
It seems that if the county, state or federal govt funded any of that restoration that I saw take place recently then they absolutely have no right running beach goers away with security force - if they ever did have that right in the first place. In addition I would argue that the storm that eroded that part of the beach a year and a half ago significantly raised the high water mark that once prevailed thus creating a significant amount of dry sand "public" in it's current state. In addition, their HUGE "Private Beach" sign has been erected on public sand right off of the public access and should be removed immediately. Certainly there is an ordinance preventing people from putting major signage on the beach? It may as well be a billboard it's so large and it's the only sign of its kind I've seen on the beautiful beaches around here! I'll gladly call someone to remove it if pointed in the right direction - I just moved here full time so I don't know the govt entities yet. But I can tell you I'm hot about this and don't intend on dropping it!
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1151.pdf
It seems that if the county, state or federal govt funded any of that restoration that I saw take place recently then they absolutely have no right running beach goers away with security force - if they ever did have that right in the first place. In addition I would argue that the storm that eroded that part of the beach a year and a half ago significantly raised the high water mark that once prevailed thus creating a significant amount of dry sand "public" in it's current state. In addition, their HUGE "Private Beach" sign has been erected on public sand right off of the public access and should be removed immediately. Certainly there is an ordinance preventing people from putting major signage on the beach? It may as well be a billboard it's so large and it's the only sign of its kind I've seen on the beautiful beaches around here! I'll gladly call someone to remove it if pointed in the right direction - I just moved here full time so I don't know the govt entities yet. But I can tell you I'm hot about this and don't intend on dropping it!
Beachberbs
Beach Lover
Andante condos in Seacrest have big signs on the beach stating the area in front of the condos is private. They also have hired someone to chase people off the beach there. I would love to know if this is actually legal or not.
Andy A
Beach Fanatic
Blue Mtn Mama, somehow my recent post did not post. There is no ordinance prohibiting signage on the beach. We can control signage on our scenic highways but not our beach? How is this so. I have asked many times in various ways for such signage to be removed. It is still there so you can readily see how successful my efforts have been. Call all in county government with your complaint. I have.
jodiFL
Beach Fanatic
OMG ..here we go...again.....Ill be back in a few hours with the links to the FL.statutes etc.. (they might be at the beginning of this ancient thread but I am not sure) The two MAIN things that come to mind are "mean high tide line" and "current topographical survey"......if you are harrassed by soemone that thinks they are the "owner" of the beach you are on, ask them to produce said survey. If they cant, tell them to call a lawyer because the sheriffs office in Walton County wont do much to back them up.