Texas Open Beaches Act (Galveston, Howe: condos, hotels, homes)

[brubaker]

(I thought I'd posted this before but here goes)

Wow, in the land where private property is KING...

Land: Coastal Legislation

The Open Beaches Act of 1959, amended in 1991, guarantees the public's right of free and unrestricted access to the "public beach." It requires the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office to develop rules protecting the public's right to use and enjoy Texas beaches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Open_Beaches_Act

The Texas Open Beaches Act is a U.S. state of Texas law, passed in 1959 and amended in 1991, which guarantees free public access to beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.[1]
The public... shall have the free and unrestricted right of ingress and egress to and from the state-owned beaches bordering on the seaward shore of the Gulf of Mexico ... extending from the line of mean low tide to the line of vegetation bordering on the Gulf of Mexico.[2]
After major storms, news headlines often suggest that beachfront residents may not be allowed to rebuild their homes due to the act[3] such as some Galveston homes affected by Hurricane Alicia in 1983.

I had no idea.

I think only Oregon (and Hawaii?) have these sort of public beaches laws.

This is for the whole coast right?

[love roses]

The whole Texas Coast, yes.

[randian]

California has laws like this. You can't enforce rights of way on private beaches in California, but you still have to pay big property taxes on them.

[EasilyAmused]

Well unlike HI, TX doesn't have Shanty Towns on the beach. I was totally shocked at the "tent estates" people set up. It was obvious they'd been living there for years.

[brubaker]

Huh! The NERVE!

[texdav]

I saw what not have this did in florida until tehy changed the law to require access by teh public to beaches. people satrted blocking acees and acting like the beaches were privte property.The beaches them sel;f must remain public property IMO.

[doss1]

On Padre Island (including South Padre Island), quite a bit of the beach is private property with posted private signs on there. Also, a large chunk is also part of the Wildlife Refuge. Third, no vehicles are allowed to drive on the dunes. The beach is also enforced by the sheriff department and also various other agencies. However, it's still pretty desolate and remote out there. Padre Island is the longest Barrier Island in the world and the largest stretch of undeveloped ocean beach in North America.

I used to drive up and down it, explore behind every dune and did some location scouting for various movies and TV commercials. I even witnessed a fisherman reel up a barnacle-encrusted 19th Century musket with a lead ball still inside the barrel. Lots of history out there!

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by brubaker

This is for the whole coast right?

And thank the lord that Texas did it.

Have you ever been to south Florida ? Condo after condo after condo after more condos line the beachfront. Small, very small sections of public beach.
There are public paths to the beach between some of the condos but then you can't find parking. What condos haven't grabbed up hotels did.

Further up the coast in Florida it's not as bad but still not great. Nothing compared to Texas and beach access.