The Supreme Court will hear a very important beach access case this Wednesday, December 2nd. At issue is the right of the public to access and use the sandy beach in front of private property owner’s beachfront houses after the sandy beach has been replenished by the state’s beach management program. (That is, taxpayer-bought sand is poured on the beach in order to widen the beach and counteract erosion.)Before the United States Supreme Court granted cert, the Florida Supreme Court heard the matter, and decided 5-2 decided that Florida’s beach management program was valid and that the state has “a constitutional duty to protect beaches.”
Not only has Surfrider Foundation filed an amicus or “friend of the court” brief in this case (see previous blog), but Surfrider has also been researching and documenting various beach access regulations in our State of the Beach Report by Rick Wilson. For more information, see today’s news articles.
