Public Rights in Water: Public Access & Beaches

Scholarly Articles:

1. Sean T. Morris, Taking Stock in the Public Trust Doctrine: Can States Provide for Public Beach Access Without Running Afoul of Regulatory Takings Jurisprudence?, 52 Cath. U. L. Rev. 1015 (2003). 
2. Ilya Shapiro and Trevor Burrus, Judicial Takings and Scalia's Shifting Sands, 35 Vt. L. R. 423 (2010). 
3. Timothy M. Mulvaney and Brian Weeks, "Waterlocked":Public Access to New Jersey's Coastline, 34 Ecology L.Q. 579 (2007).
4. David J. Bederman, The Curious Resurrection of Custom: Beach Access and Judicial Takings, 96 Colum. L.R. 1375 (1996). 
5. James R. Resband, Equitable Compensation for Public Trust Takings, 69 U. Colo. L. Rev. 331 (1998).  
6. S. Brent Spain, Florida Beach Access: Nothing But Wet Sand?, 15 J. Land Use & Envtl. L. 167 (1999). 
7. Meg Caldwell and Craig Holt Segall, No Day at the Beach: Sea Level Rise, Ecosystem Loss, and Public Access Along the California Coast, 34 Ecology L.Q. 533 (2007). 
8. Daniel Summerlin, Improving Public Access to Coastal Beaches: The Effect of Statutory Management and the Public Trust Doctrine, 20 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 425 (1996). 

Case Law: 

1. Stop The Beach Renourishment v. Florida, 130 S.Ct. 2592 (2010).
2. Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606 (2001). 
3. Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Mississippi, 484 U.S. 469 (1988). 
4. Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n., 483 U.S. 825 (1987).  
5. Leydon v. Town of Greenwhich, 257 Conn. 318 (2001). 

• The Public Trust Doctrine provides access along the shore below the mean high water line, but it does not include the right to cross private property to reach the shore.  Therefore, access to the shore varies greatly, depending on the availability of roads and public paths 

• The right to access tidal waters and shores is well established.  Both access to and ownership of tidal wetlands and beaches is defined by the Public Trust Doctrine.  According to the Doctrine, navigable waters and the underlying lands were publicly owned at the time of statehood and remains so today.  

Four Ways in Which the Public May Legally Gain Access to the Beach:

1. Public Trust Doctrine
2. Custom
3. Dedication
4. Prescription

Trepanier v. County of Volusia, 965 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007).