Let Them Drown
The Pensacola News Journal ran this story on a local bit of insanity that has made it to the US Supreme Court: Destin homeowners take cases to court
WASHINGTON — Oceanfront landowners in Florida are pressing the Supreme Court to rule that beach replenishment projects unconstitutionally separate them from the sea.
The issue, to be argued before the court on Wednesday, began in 2003 when Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc., a group of five beachfront homeowners in Destin, protested what a replenishment project was doing to their property lines.
Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection establish unchanging property lines for such projects — at the point where high tide peaked prior to the project — rather than allowing them to shift with the tides.
When sand was added to the beach in Destin, the high-water mark moved farther from the homes, essentially adding 75 more feet of sand between the homes and the water. The angry homeowners demanded compensation for what they said were lower property values.
If the beach isn’t replenished, their houses will cease to exist in a few years as the storm surge from hurricanes erode the beach and the tides come higher and higher. The financial meltdown affected their property values a good deal more than sand.
Beaches are public property in Florida. If you buy a lot on a waterway in the state of Florida, your property line is the mean high tide line, and anything from that line to the water is open to the public. This is similar to the public right-of-way next to roads in most jurisdictions.
Beach replenishment is an erosion control measure, as storms eat away at the beach. If the sand isn’t replaced, the Gulf will head North is some places, while other places along the coast may see more sand deposited and the beach expanded. The state can’t use tax money to directly benefit private property owners, which is exactly what these people are requesting.
Instead of wasting their time and money, these people should just wait, because their area will never see another round of beach replenishment, and they will become very connected to the water after one more major hurricane.
3 comments
Yep! Let them drown.
Except… they won’t. Rats always survive sinking ships, or houses.
A shame their IQ’s aren’t even 1% the size of their bank accounts.
Let them become reconnected with the sea
.-= last blog ..Wish it were MY Nepenthe! =-.
The fun part, Kryten, is while this suit has been moving through the courts the value of the properties has taken a nose dive. Since the state pays “fair market value”, the number is probably negative about now. In addition, the cost of insurance has spiked, so these places have lost even more value as the insurance payments are closing in on mortgage payments, when you can find someone to insure them. Most are valued above the limit for the public insurance company, so many of these people are stuck with nothing but the Federal flood insurance which is capped at a few hundred thousand. There was a reason all this land was vacant along the Gulf – locals know better than to build there.
It’s only a matter of time, Jill. One strong storm from New Orleans to Apalachicola and it will happen.