NFIB Urges SCOTUS to Protect Waterfront Private-Property Rights

Contact: Melissa Sharp 202-314-2068

Washington, D.C., September 3, 2009— The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, the nation’s leading legal advocate for small businesses, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Court to overturn a Florida law that eliminates private-property rights from owners of private waterfront property. 

The case is Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. At issue in this case is whether or not owners of private waterfront property own the land that directly touches the ocean. The Florida state government contends that these private-property owners do not own the land that connects with the ocean when the tide changes. This interpretation, which was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court, effectively creates a strip of public beach between the landowners’ property and the ocean.

 

“This is an outrageous violation of the private-property owners’ constitutional rights,” said Karen Harned, executive director, NFIB Small Business Legal Center. “The Florida Supreme Court ignored a long-standing precedent that guarantees a beachfront landowner the right to directly access the ocean. Claiming this land as public property constitutes a judicial taking of private property and directly violates the Fifth Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court must correct this decision before a dangerous precedent is established and the rights of beachfront homeowners and business owners are further put in jeopardy.”

 

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in this case this fall.