Property Keyed to Merrill
Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental
Facts
The City of Destin and Walton County in the State of Florida applied tothe Department of Environmental Protection (“Defendant”) for permits to the state’s Beach and Shore Restoration Act (“the Act”) for the placement of large deposits of sand and sediment, along 6.9 miles of submerged beach. Per the statute, the abrupt and grand addition of sand and sediment, known as avulsion, removed littoral owners’ property rights to accretions, or gradual additions of sand that accumulated over time. The Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc., (SBR), a non-profit group of littoral owners, unsuccessfully challenged the legality of the statute at an administrative hearing. However, the SBR later challenged the beach restoration project in the state court of appeals. The appellate court held in favor of SBR on the grounds that the project constituted an unconstitutional taking of littoral owners’ property rights, thus violating the Fifth Amendment. Further, the appellate court certified the issue for review by the Florida Supreme Court. Thereafter, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the appellate court on the grounds that the Act did not unconstitutionally deprive littoral owners of any property rights. Subsequently, SBR petitioned to the United States Supreme Court on the grounds that the Florida Supreme Court’s decision, by itself, constituted a “judicial taking” oftheir property rights.
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