WPBN: Customary usage is the subject of a state statute that has been proposed to be repealed by a lawmaker from the state of Florida.
Customary usage refers to the ability of the general public to visit the beach in front of privately owned property. On Tuesday, Joel Rudman, a representative for District 3 in the State House, submitted a measure to repeal a statute that was passed in 2018 governing customary usage.
An ordinance that relies on or is founded on the usual use of any area of a beach that is located above the mean high-water level cannot be adopted or renewed by a government entity, according to the statute.
As the owner of a property at Seagrove Beach, Representative Rudman drafted his measure with the intention of removing what he considers to be an excessive governmental intervention from the act.
“As a state legislator, I am very concerned when we get big government involved in local decisions. I’m a Republican, I don’t believe in big government, I don’t believe in bringing Tallahassee into a local dispute,” Representative Rudman stated. “I am simply trying to disengage Tallahassee from the dispute and let the resolution come from the citizens and elected officials who actually go to 30A and live in Walton County and pay taxes in Walton County.”
According to Representative Rudman, the bill targeted Walton County, and he references an exemption in the act that was passed in 2018.
“That provision essentially exempted every other county in the state, so in my opinion, this was done on purpose. This was done to target Walton County. I believe the citizens of Walton County should have the same rights as citizens in Bay County, Okaloosa, and St. John County,” Representative Rudman stated.
In order for the county to be excluded from the state statute, the exemption specifies a date by which the county must have enacted an ordinance.
“This section does not apply to a governmental entity with an ordinance or rule that was adopted and in effect on or before January 1, 2016, and does not deprive a governmental entity from raising customary use as an affirmative defense in any proceeding challenging an ordinance or rule adopted before July 1, 2018,”according to the statute.
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Until the addition of Chapter 23 on March 16, 2017, Walton County did not have an ordinance that specifically addressed customary use. This was the first time that customary use was included in the ordinance.
“The public’s long-standing customary use of the dry sand areas of all of the beaches in the county for recreational purposes is hereby protected. Except as stated in subsection (c), no individual, group, or entity shall impede or interfere with the right of the public at large, including the residents and visitors of the county, to utilize the dry sand areas of the beach that are owned by private entities for recreational purposes.”
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In the chapter that came before the addendum, the topic of conventional use received attention.
“This chapter makes no finding of fact that the public either has or has not customarily used any particular piece of gulf front property beach.”
