| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public access to beaches; creating part |
| 3 | V of ch. 161, F.S.; providing definitions; providing |
| 4 | policy and effect; declaring that the public policy of |
| 5 | this state is to provide free access to public beaches; |
| 6 | prohibiting persons from restricting access; prohibiting |
| 7 | obstruction of beach access under certain conditions; |
| 8 | prohibiting the use of signs declaring that a public beach |
| 9 | is private property; providing that a violation of such |
| 10 | prohibition is a first-degree misdemeanor; providing a |
| 11 | penalty; prohibiting a governmental entity from placing an |
| 12 | obstruction upon a public beach under certain conditions; |
| 13 | prohibiting ordinances that limit public access; providing |
| 14 | for the use of prima facie evidence in suits to exclude |
| 15 | the public from accessing and using a sandy beach; |
| 16 | requiring notice to the Board of Trustees of the Internal |
| 17 | Improvement Trust Fund of the sale or closure of access to |
| 18 | a public beach; providing for the purchase of such access |
| 19 | by the board; providing an effective date. |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 22 |
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| 23 | Section 1. Part V of chapter 161, Florida Statutes, |
| 24 | consisting of sections 161.80, 161.81, 161.82, 161.83, and |
| 25 | 161.84, is created to read: |
| 26 | PART V |
| 27 | PUBLIC BEACH ACCESS |
| 28 | 161.80 Definitions.--As used in this part, the term: |
| 29 | (1) "Beach access" means the public's right to laterally |
| 30 | traverse and make recreational use of the sandy beaches of this |
| 31 | state where such access exists on or after July 1, 1987, or the |
| 32 | public has established an accessway through private lands to |
| 33 | lands seaward of the mean high tide or water line by |
| 34 | prescription, prescriptive easement, or any other legal means, |
| 35 | and the public's right of ingress and egress to public beaches |
| 36 | and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, or the |
| 37 | Straits of Florida. |
| 38 | (2) "Public beach" means any sovereign beach, any |
| 39 | recreational beach owned or operated by the state or a local |
| 40 | government, or any sandy beach area where the public has |
| 41 | established or acquired a right of use by prescription, |
| 42 | dedication, custom, or any other legal means. |
| 43 | (3) "Recreational use" includes walking, hiking, fishing, |
| 44 | swimming, surfing, sunbathing, nature study, any other |
| 45 | traditional beach activities; visiting historical, |
| 46 | archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites; accessing a public |
| 47 | beach; and providing noncommercial parking areas in proximity to |
| 48 | beach access points. |
| 49 | (4) "Sovereign beach" means that portion of a sandy beach |
| 50 | lying seaward of the line of mean high water or a recorded |
| 51 | erosion control line. |
| 52 | 161.81 Declaration of policy and effect.-- |
| 53 | (1) Under the Environmental Protection Act of 1971, a |
| 54 | public beach is a natural resource, and it is the policy of this |
| 55 | state that the public, individually and collectively, have free |
| 56 | and unrestricted right to enter and use this resource. |
| 57 | (2) This part does not affect in any way the title held to |
| 58 | land in this state which is adjacent to any beach on the Gulf of |
| 59 | Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, or the Straits of Florida, and does |
| 60 | not reduce or limit in any way the rights of the public in |
| 61 | public beaches which have been defined in law or custom. |
| 62 | (3) Any sandy beach below the mean high water line or a |
| 63 | recorded erosion control line is declared public, and a private |
| 64 | entity, absent a board of trustees deed or authorization, may |
| 65 | not restrict access along the shoreline across such beaches. |
| 66 | 161.82 Unlawful barriers to use of public beaches.-- |
| 67 | (1)(a) A person may not: |
| 68 | 1. Obstruct or cause obstruction of beach access by |
| 69 | fencing, barricading, or causing any other obstruction, unless |
| 70 | such obstruction is otherwise authorized by law. |
| 71 | 2. Display or cause to be displayed on any public beach |
| 72 | any sign, marker, or warning or communicate in any other manner |
| 73 | that a public beach is private property. |
| 74 | (b) A person who violates this subsection commits a |
| 75 | misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. |
| 76 | 775.082 or s. 775.083. |
| 77 | (2) A governmental entity may not: |
| 78 | (a) Place or cause to be placed any fencing, barricade, or |
| 79 | any other obstruction upon a public beach, unless such |
| 80 | obstruction is a response to public safety or an emergency or is |
| 81 | otherwise authorized by law. This subsection does not prevent |
| 82 | any agency, department, institution, subdivision, or |
| 83 | instrumentality of the state or of the Federal Government from |
| 84 | erecting or maintaining any groin, seawall, barrier, pass, |
| 85 | channel, jetty, or other structure as an aid to navigation, as |
| 86 | protection of the shore, or for fishing, safety, or other lawful |
| 87 | purpose. |
| 88 | (b) Adopt an ordinance, resolution, or development order |
| 89 | that has the effect of limiting the public's access to a public |
| 90 | beach, except as necessary to protect the public's health, |
| 91 | safety, and welfare. |
| 92 | 161.83 Prima facie evidence.--In a suit brought or |
| 93 | defended under this part or whose determination is affected by |
| 94 | this part, proof of record title to a sandy beach that is |
| 95 | landward of a sovereign beach is not prima facie evidence that |
| 96 | the titleholder has a right to exclude the public from accessing |
| 97 | and using the sandy beach or any associated accessway. A showing |
| 98 | that property lies within the area from mean low tide to the |
| 99 | seasonal high-water line, as defined in s. 161.053(6)(a), is |
| 100 | prima facie evidence that the title of the littoral owner does |
| 101 | not include the right to prevent the public from using the |
| 102 | property for access and use of a public beach or for ingress and |
| 103 | egress to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, |
| 104 | or the Straits of Florida. |
| 105 | 161.84 Public purchase of beach access.-- |
| 106 | (1) By January 1, 2010, each county and municipality shall |
| 107 | provide a list to the Board of Trustees of the Internal |
| 108 | Improvement Trust Fund of each dead-end street within its |
| 109 | jurisdiction which may be used for the purpose of accessing and |
| 110 | using a public beach. The list must specify the location of each |
| 111 | street and be provided at no charge to the board. |
| 112 | (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a county |
| 113 | or municipality may not sell or convey any interest in |
| 114 | beachfront land or abandon, close, relinquish, or vacate a |
| 115 | street, road, or easement that provides an accessway to a public |
| 116 | beach until the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement |
| 117 | Trust Fund has an opportunity to receive or purchase such |
| 118 | interest or accessway in accordance with the following: |
| 119 | (a) If a county or municipality receives a petition |
| 120 | requesting that it sell, convey, abandon, close, relinquish, or |
| 121 | vacate any such interest or accessway or decides to take such |
| 122 | action without receiving a request, the county or municipality |
| 123 | shall, before consideration of any private offers, notify the |
| 124 | board that the interest or accessway is available. The notice |
| 125 | must be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. |
| 126 | (b) Within 45 days after receipt of the notice, the board |
| 127 | shall determine by resolution whether it proposes to devote such |
| 128 | interest or accessway to public use for the purpose of accessing |
| 129 | and using the public beach. Such purpose is declared to be a |
| 130 | public purpose. |
| 131 | 1. If the board proposes to devote the interest or |
| 132 | accessway in perpetuity for such purpose, within 120 days after |
| 133 | receipt of the notice, it shall adopt a resolution that |
| 134 | specifies such intent and provides a tentative plan for the |
| 135 | development of the interest or accessway and a tentative |
| 136 | schedule that specifies a date that development will commence, |
| 137 | which must be within 2 years after the date of the resolution, |
| 138 | and a date that development will be completed, which must be |
| 139 | within 4 years after the date of the resolution. If appropriate, |
| 140 | the board's agreement to maintain the land in its current use |
| 141 | and condition shall be considered a sufficient plan of |
| 142 | development. The board shall send a certified copy of the |
| 143 | resolution to the county or municipality by certified mail, |
| 144 | return receipt requested, within 5 days after adoption but |
| 145 | before the end of the 120-day period. The county or municipality |
| 146 | that timely receives the certified copy of the resolution shall |
| 147 | convey the land to the board upon such terms and conditions and |
| 148 | at such price as the county or municipality determines. |
| 149 | 2. If the board decides not to devote such interest or |
| 150 | accessway in perpetuity for such purposes, it shall adopt a |
| 151 | resolution reflecting such determination and send a certified |
| 152 | copy of the resolution to the county or municipality by |
| 153 | certified mail, return receipt requested, within 5 days after |
| 154 | adoption. |
| 155 | (c) The failure of the board to adopt and send a |
| 156 | resolution pursuant to this subsection constitutes the board's |
| 157 | determination not to devote such interest or accessway in |
| 158 | perpetuity to a public use for the purpose of accessing and |
| 159 | using a public beach. |
| 160 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |