In the last press conference from Santa Rosa Beach in Walton County, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, announced the repeal of a law that affected all citizens. It is the approval of the new law SB 1622, which repeals the law signed by Rick Scott in 2018. With the old law, it limited public access to beaches and took power away from state authorities. It is supported by Jay Trumbull (R-Panama), and Shane Abbott (R-DeFuniak Springs).
Both of them are proponents of the new law in Congress, advocating beach restoration and public recreational use of beaches along the Gulf Coast. So far, it has only entered into force in Walton County, where tourists will be able to visit the beaches that until now have been considered private beaches without any problem. In addition, this law also aims to facilitate the work of the Department of Environmental Protection, making it possible to advance beach improvement projects, which will benefit both Florida residents and tourists visiting its coasts in 2025.
Florida Private Beaches Act of 2018
This law was approved by Rick Scott, who was a senator of Florida between 2011 and 2019. Belonging to the Republican Party, he passed a law through which access to beaches was limited and even considered private beaches. According to this law, not only did it limit access to beaches that until then had been public and under the management of local authorities, but the senator included that these authorities would not have any kind of power over them.
According to Senator Jay Trumbull, “Overnight, people who had walked the same stretch of dry beach for generations were being told they were trespassing”. According to the repealed law, the only area of the beach that the public could visit without being thrown out for trespassing is the part below the high tide mark.
New law SB 1622
As Governor DeSantis explains, “this bill is about restoring local control, cutting red tape and putting our residents first”. Although the 2018 repeal of the law only affects Walton County, it will soon be extended to the rest of the coast. With this new law, power is returned to local authorities, who will determine the public use of beaches. Thus, beachgoers will be able to access any area of the beach without being expelled by their “owners”. Trumbull, who has also promoted the bill in the Senate, stated that “cities and counties can now adopt ordinances recognizing customary recreational use – walking, fishing, sunbathing, swimming – without having to obtain a judicial declaration, parcel by parcel”.
Beach restoration work
This law not only affects the ownership of the beaches and their access, but also their conservation and care. According to Alexis Lambert, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, the fact that access to the beaches is public will facilitate conservation efforts, as well as the use of the mean high tide line as a line to control coastal erosion. On the other hand, duplicate applications have also been eliminated, streamlining the bureaucratic procedures that delayed critical restoration projects.
Both Abbott and Trumball stated that it is not a matter of only a privileged few having access to the beaches, but that all Florida residents should be able to enjoy them as they rightfully belong to them as well; “we are running this bill for the thousands of locals and residents here who have spent time on those beaches and should enjoy those beaches and have enjoyed them for generations”. Are you one of the affected? Do you think that the access should be limited yo only a few, or allow everyone to enjoy the benefits from living in the coast?