| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public access to beaches; creating |
| 3 | part V of ch. 161, F.S.; providing definitions; declaring |
| 4 | the policy and effect; prohibiting a local government |
| 5 | from adopting an ordinance, resolution, or development |
| 6 | order that has the effect of excluding certain |
| 7 | individuals from a public beach; prohibiting obstruction |
| 8 | of beach access under certain conditions; requiring that |
| 9 | the display of certain signs meet criteria concerning |
| 10 | beach access; providing that a violation of such |
| 11 | prohibition is a first-degree misdemeanor; providing a |
| 12 | penalty; prohibiting a governmental entity from placing |
| 13 | an obstruction upon a public beach under certain |
| 14 | conditions; defining the term "recreational use"; |
| 15 | authorizing owners of land within a specified distance of |
| 16 | specified coastal waters to record or revoke a notice |
| 17 | concerning the granting of permission for the public's |
| 18 | recreational use of the land; providing limitations on |
| 19 | the duty or liability of an owner while such a notice is |
| 20 | recorded; prohibiting an owner from preventing certain |
| 21 | public uses of the land while such a notice is recorded; |
| 22 | providing an effective date. |
| 23 |
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| 24 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 25 |
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| 26 | Section 1. Part V of chapter 161, Florida Statutes, |
| 27 | consisting of sections 161.80, 161.81, 161.82, and 161.83, is |
| 28 | created to read: |
| 29 | PART V |
| 30 | PUBLIC BEACH ACCESS |
| 31 | 161.80 Definitions.--As used in this part, the term: |
| 32 | (1) "Beach access" means the public's right to laterally |
| 33 | traverse and make recreational use of the sandy beaches of this |
| 34 | state where such access exists on or after July 1, 1987, or the |
| 35 | public has established an accessway through private lands to |
| 36 | lands seaward of the mean high tide or water line by |
| 37 | prescription, prescriptive easement, or any other legal means, |
| 38 | and the public's right of ingress and egress to public beaches |
| 39 | and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, or the |
| 40 | Straits of Florida. |
| 41 | (2) "Public beach" means any sovereign beach, any |
| 42 | recreational beach owned or operated by the state or a local |
| 43 | government, or any sandy beach area where the public has |
| 44 | established or acquired a right of use by prescription, |
| 45 | dedication, custom, or any other legal means. |
| 46 | (3) "Sovereign beach" means that portion of a sandy beach |
| 47 | lying seaward of the line of mean high water or a recorded |
| 48 | erosion control line. |
| 49 | 161.81 Declaration of policy and effect.-- |
| 50 | (1) It is the policy of this state that the public, |
| 51 | individually and collectively, shall have the free and |
| 52 | unrestricted right to enter and use public beaches. |
| 53 | (2) This part does not affect in any way the title held to |
| 54 | land in this state which is adjacent to any beach on the Gulf of |
| 55 | Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, or the Straits of Florida, and does |
| 56 | not reduce or limit in any way the rights of the public in |
| 57 | public beaches which have been defined in law or custom. |
| 58 | 161.82 Use of public beaches.-- |
| 59 | (1) A local government may not adopt an ordinance, |
| 60 | resolution, or development order that has the effect of |
| 61 | excluding nonresidents or a particular class of user from a |
| 62 | public beach. |
| 63 | (2)(a) A person may not: |
| 64 | 1. Obstruct or cause obstruction of beach access by |
| 65 | fencing, barricading, or causing any other obstruction, unless |
| 66 | such obstruction is otherwise authorized by law. |
| 67 | 2. Display or cause to be displayed on any public beach |
| 68 | any sign, marker, or warning or communicate in any other manner |
| 69 | that a public beach is private property. |
| 70 | (b) A person who violates this subsection commits a |
| 71 | misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. |
| 72 | 775.082 or s. 775.083. |
| 73 | (3) A governmental entity may not place or cause to be |
| 74 | placed any fencing, barricade, or any other obstruction upon a |
| 75 | public beach, unless such obstruction is a response to an |
| 76 | emergency or is otherwise authorized by law. This subsection |
| 77 | does not prevent any agency, department, institution, |
| 78 | subdivision, or instrumentality of the state or of the Federal |
| 79 | Government from erecting or maintaining any groin, seawall, |
| 80 | barrier, pass, channel, jetty, or other structure as an aid to |
| 81 | navigation, as protection of the shore, or for fishing, safety, |
| 82 | or other lawful purpose. |
| 83 | 161.83 Recording permission to access beaches; limitation |
| 84 | of liability.-- |
| 85 | (1) As used in this section, the term "recreational use" |
| 86 | includes, but is not limited to, walking, hiking, fishing, |
| 87 | swimming, surfing, sunbathing, nature study, or other |
| 88 | traditional beach activities; visiting historical, |
| 89 | archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites; accessing a public |
| 90 | beach; and providing noncommercial parking areas in proximity to |
| 91 | beach access points. |
| 92 | (2) The holder of record title to land within 1,500 feet |
| 93 | of the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, or the Straits of |
| 94 | Florida may record in any county in which any part of the land |
| 95 | is situated a description of the land and a notice reading |
| 96 | substantially as follows: "The right of the public or any person |
| 97 | to make recreational use of the above described land or any |
| 98 | portion thereof, other than any use expressly allowed by a |
| 99 | written or recorded map, agreement, deed, or dedication, is by |
| 100 | permission of owner pursuant to section 161.86, Florida |
| 101 | Statutes." The holder of record title may revoke any such |
| 102 | recorded notice by recording a notice of revocation in each |
| 103 | county wherein the notice is recorded. The recording of a notice |
| 104 | under this subsection does not affect any right of the public |
| 105 | which was vested at the time of recording through prescription, |
| 106 | dedication, custom, or other legal means. |
| 107 | (3) During any period when notice concerning a parcel of |
| 108 | land is recorded and not revoked: |
| 109 | (a) If the dedication of all or a portion of the parcel to |
| 110 | public use or the public's prescriptive or customary right in |
| 111 | all or a portion of the parcel is at issue in a legal |
| 112 | proceeding, the recorded notice is conclusive evidence that the |
| 113 | use of the parcel by the public or by any user for any purpose, |
| 114 | other than a use expressly allowed by a written or recorded map, |
| 115 | agreement, deed, or dedication, is permissive and with the |
| 116 | consent of the holder of record title to the parcel. |
| 117 | (b) The holder of record title to the parcel may not |
| 118 | prevent a public use of the parcel which is appropriate to the |
| 119 | notice by physical obstruction, notice, or otherwise. |
| 120 | (c) The holder of record title to the parcel owes no duty |
| 121 | of care to keep the parcel safe for entry or use by the public |
| 122 | or to give warning to persons entering or going of any hazardous |
| 123 | conditions, structures, or activities thereon, and such |
| 124 | titleholder does not, by providing public recreational use of |
| 125 | the parcel: |
| 126 | 1. Extend any assurance that the parcel is safe for any |
| 127 | purpose; |
| 128 | 2. Incur any duty of care to any person who goes on the |
| 129 | parcel; or |
| 130 | 3. Become liable or responsible for any injury to persons |
| 131 | or property caused by the act or omission of a person who goes |
| 132 | on the parcel. |
| 133 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |