Court says state isn’t allowed to steal private beach property
A judge in Rhode Island has determined that the state is not allowed to simply change a law and take away beach property belonging to homeowners with waterfront properties.
The state earlier had simply changed its law and moved the demarcation line between public beach and private land 10 feet further inland.
That meant that that land was being taken away from homeowners without compensation even as they were required to continue to pay taxes on it.
That scheme apparently now is at an end.
The Pacific Legal Foundation revealed Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter said that state’s “novel” beach access law violates the property rights of homeowners.
It’s being called a major victory for those landowners.
The foundation explained, “In an order denying the state’s motion for summary judgment, Judge Taft-Carter wrote that the law results in an unconstitutional taking of private property.”
“Our clients are gratified that the court agreed with what they have said from the start—the beach access law violates their rights,” explained foundation lawyer J. David Breemer. “As the court recognized, the beach access law infringed on our client’s property rights by moving the existing public beach boundary line 10 feet landward, effectively confiscating our client’s property, which is an unconstitutional taking.”
The judge, whose final order will come later, said, “The act reduced the plaintiff’s ‘bundle of rights’ inherent in the ownership of property by expanding the preexisting boundary line to 10 feet landward of the recognizable high tide line and confiscated the plaintiff’s property resulting in an unconstitutional taking.”
WND reported when the case was developing it was launched on behalf of the Rhode Island Association of Coastal Taxpayers.
Lawmakers simply voted to move the demarcation line for “public beach” property inland 10 feet, confiscating that same land from landowners in the state.
“Historically, the ‘mean high tide line’ served as the boundary between the public beach area and private property in Rhode Island,” the legal team explained. The new law simply by fiat changes that by 10 feet, “giving the public an extra strip of land at the expense of private property owners.”
The case accused the state of violating the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
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