re: The Real Civil War's Gonna Start on 30A!...

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Cliffs?

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Essentially, the longstanding determination of public vs private of FL beaches has been the mean high water mark (the average of high tides over a defined period of time). This basically means wet sand was public and 99% of dry sand is private.

The problem in 30A is the overwhelming majority of renters are renting off beach properties. When these people go to the beach, they are funneled in from a public parking lot to the water through state owned property or a public easement. These funnels are typically very narrow, 50ft or less.

Lately beachfront landowners have been claiming they own into the water. They have mostly had the local sheriff's office's support. Public beach goers have not been able to enjoy the waters edge in front of private property and forced to pile into the public spaces like sardines. In order to cross these private properties to casually stroll down the beach, one must walk through the water, not stopping, and definitely not putting a chair or tent.

In Walton Co, there seems to be a gray area of riparian ownership. I'm no expert but it seems pretty cut and dry in most of the rest of FL, but something sneaky going down in Walton Co that could potentially affect the rest of FL beaches.