April 21, 2018 1:00 a.m.
Editor’s Note: We always appreciate our readers alerting us to interesting articles. Recently, the Christian Science Monitor‘s article “As its beaches recede, Florida shores up private ownership” by Patrik Jonsson is not only an excellent article on the Florida shoreline controversy, but it mentions Fernandina Beach and one of our island residents. We hope you enjoy.
“For retiree Jim Stoner, who’s logged thousands of miles walking barefoot on Fernandina Beach and gathering more than 8,000 shark teeth washed up by the tide, the law is “about the poor and the rich.” He adds, “some people just think they own everything.” Christian Science Monitor
For complete article, click here.
Thank you for this article from the Christian Science Monaror. This is a wake up call. We need to keep the beaches open to all the public. Where are the legislators from beach counties? “O” is it beach front money they represent ? Maybe we need to get help from non water front county beach goers.
California and Michigan solved this problem so can we.
We will all need to work together to do it.
It’s time for all of us to stand up and find the answer for this.
the answer is simple——–the status quo should not have been tampered with
The answer is even more simple than that. If the private owners want their “private” beach they should not receive any funding help with preserving or maintaining “their” beach. The one thing I guarantee wealthy people value more than owning their own beach and that’s their bank balance. And the rest of us just need to watch the tide charts and make sure to heavily populate the wet sand where and when available so the wealthy know it’s a hollow victory.
I would also point out that the characterization of someone threatening to call the police over a person surf fishing is ridiculous. This law does NOT allow for “fences down to the surf.” Public ownership of the beach from the mean high tide line to the water is not effected by this law. While it does violate a ruling by the SCOSF state law cannot overrule Federal law and the SCOTUS has already affirmed this right. So property owners, be warned….if you put up a fence that extends past that high tide line YOU are violating the law and I, for one, won’t hesitate to cross your illegal barrier and sue the heck out of you should you do anything to interfere with MY right to that piece of beach.