Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill reversing a controversial 2018 law that led to limited public beach access in some areas. Lawmakers in April passed the bill (SB 1622) after widespread complaints about waterfront property owners in Walton County preventing people from using beaches.
“When 80 percent of your economy relies on these beautiful beaches, relating to tourism, it’s not just a legal issue, it truly is a community issue,” Senate bill sponsor Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, said during a bill-signing event at Shunk Gulley Oyster Bar in Santa Rosa Beach. “It impacts jobs, small businesses, and the spirit of the place that we call home.”
The issue involves “customary use” of beaches. The Florida Constitution ensures public access to portions of beaches “below mean high water lines,” often described as wet areas of beaches. But customary use involves dry-sand areas of beaches above the mean high water line that are often privately owned. The 2018 law put in place an extensive process for certain local governments that want to have ordinances or rules aimed at ensuring customary use, including requiring judicial approval.
Flagler County was ahead of the curve. Beating a deadline, and at the urging–and orchestration–of County Attorney Al Hadeed, the Flagler County Commission in 2018 enacted an ordinance that preserved customary use on the county’s 18 miles of shore, in essence grandfathering the county under the new law. In the run-up to the passage of the ordinance Hadeed had organized long hearings that featured the testimonies of many longtime local residents who spoke of their use of the beach over the years, to corroborate a history that served as justification for the new measure. See: “To Protect Public Use of Private Beachfronts, Flagler Calls on Memories of Long-Timers’ Customs.”
It is unclear if Flagler County’s ordinance is made entirely moot by the new state law. The ordinance remains one of many milestones of searching, precedent-setting legal work on Hadeed’s watch in his nearly three decades as county attorney (in two separate stints). Hadeed is set to retire this summer.
–FlaglerLive and News Service of Florida
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