re: 30A and Public Beach Access

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Every OT ballers favorite beach vacation destination has officially died. While crowds this weekend are well above normal due to Atlanta having a late Spring break, the crowds on the beachs are almost completely bare. Void of any vacationers, Bluetooth speakers, or 65 qt Yeti ice chests.

I've got to admit, if DeSantis doesn't sign the new bill that just passed Florida's house, I honestly see tourism in Florida dying off quickly for the beach communities. There have been more people eating and drinking at the restaurants with waits well over 2 hours. It took us 45 mins to get from Seaside to Grayton for lunch since no one is on the beach. Incredible that Florida has let this public access get this bad.

Wonder if this eventually comes up for Louisiana's private land/water disputes.

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I have no care about 30A, never been. I don't understand how an adult can type all this stuff out and hit submit. There needs to be an IQ test for starting threads, at least on the OT. Everything you typed contradicted one another.

TL/DL: Blame Mike Huckabee and contact me if you need a list of public beach access points near your rental you can use, but the law is being changed to fix the problem.

This is a complicated issue.

To be clear, this started with Mike Huckabee who owns a large beachfront home and had kids acting like jackasses in front of his place.

He calls his lawyer, lawyer finds the Walton county (30a) deed was written to the waterline and it’s off to the races with lawsuits leading to political campaigns and now legislation.

Add in a few extremely aggressive beach service vendors operating possibly illegal chair rental services who act as personal enforcers so they can force you to rent and the issue was amplified.

People have been voted in and out of office down here over this issue, with the majority in Walton County strongly in favor of restoring access.

Bottom line, he won in court and certain areas of 30A are now restricted use to the strong support of very wealthy and influential owners with extremely good lawyers. Keep in mind, Senators, Governors and judges own places down here so their pull runs deep and in some cases the deeds are in fact on their side.

As mentioned, legislation went to the FL statehouse to fix it and has now been passed just requiring signature from DeSantis, but please check before you book that you have easy access to deeded or public beach access if you aren’t on the water or it could be an inconvenience.

The real story here is that you have big money buying second home properties for $15M+ who don’t want people vacationing next to their 15 bedroom mansion. Locals in Walton would vote to restore access, but as was mentioned it’s a deed issue and can only likely be undone via legislative action or eminent domain.

But bottom line, blame Mike Huckabee for being the ultimate “get off my sand” guy.
Ark Times: Mike Huckabees Fight to Throw Public Off “His” Beach

FL Politics: FL Statehouse Fixes Beach Access Issue

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Exactly the reason this will never survive the court system. People are elated about this like it's a done deal forever. "Laws" are struck down with regularity, probably most of them are struck down, but no one notices.

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It can be dealt with via the equivalent of eminent domain if needed, it’s just a question of how and when it disappears.
FL Eminent Domain Process

It’s messing with the tourism industry and it’s not going to be allowed to remain one way or the other.

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You said the wait times at restaurants are 2 hours. You want more people over there for it to be longer? Open beach to chill sounds good to me

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Some restaurants have those waits, if you want places that are just as good or better that don’t let me know where you’re staying and I’ll help.

Some places in Rosemary for instance are worth the wait and book months out, most places aren’t and are just busy due to convenience and so women can instagram their dinner for social media clout.

Florida man here who happens to have a beach house (two blocks off the beach) at St Augustine Beach. We to.orate huge numbers of tourists every day. That’s what makes our beaches what they are.

What the hell are you talking about? We bend over backwards to provide beach access. Our beach is mostly a drive-on beach is you have 4x4 and actually know how to properly use it.

The gulf beaches are too narrow to allow that. Parking is always difficult. Get there early and plan accordingly. Carry out what you brought in. Don’t trash our beautiful beaches.

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Maybe read up on it, because you are way off. The public beach access points and deeded points will remain as they are. This relates to being able to go anywhere you want on the beach once you get to the beach, as in left or right. This does not allow people to walk across private property to get to the beach.

People who currently own beach front own to the high water line, so basically all dry sand. Those same homeowners don’t have to pay for the beach restoration of their “private property” that’s the tax payers responsibility. Those same homeowners also dont pay more on their assessments for their private beach.

The tax payers pay for the beach, they should be able to enjoy it.

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Maybe you should comprehend what you wrote, because you just reiterated my point. You acknowledge they own to mean high water "basically all dry sand" . That is their private property. You support this law so that the general public can now traverse across this "basically all dry sand" private property. In order for that to legally happen, the state will have to take it as eminent domain. Passing a silly law doesn't change ownership...

Obviously all public beach is staying. I never debated that. You currently can go anywhere you want once you get to the public beach. Left or right. Or straight. Where ever you want. As long as you don't cross private property. Some landowners are claiming they own into the water, which is absurd.

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<——I have an uncle named “Rupert”, didn’t know he had special landholding privileges….

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Touche`

Not correct.

The beachfront owners in Walton County voted over 90% to not allow the county to “add” sand to their property. So called beach renourishment.

The county in doing so, would acquire “public” right to the areas where sand was added south of the beachfront owners property at the MHWL.

The beachfront owners have at their own expense added fencing along the beach that has made a significant improvement in sand retention.

And beachfront owners know that it will be their responsibility to bring in sand should a hurricane cause damage and “wash” out the existing sand. It has happened before and the beachfront owners footed the bill.

You might Google the Customary Use lawsuit and the outline of it’s settlement.

Can I cross your private property anytime I want over and over to get to the other side? Why is it different just because there is a beach on the other side?

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It’s a thought for sure. But not likely that beachfront owners would accept what the county would offer.

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Correct me if wrong, but the beachfront owners did not pay for the line to be moved from the Erosion Control Line to the Mean High water line when Huckabee pushed this in 2017. This new law is just restoring what it always was prior.