Late yesterday afternoon we received two more title abstracts for Sandy Key and Beach Colony parcels on the Eastern side of Perdido Key--very close to Escambia County Beach Access #1. While we do not yet have the abstract for the parcel directly adjacent to Access #1 on the east side (La Playa)--we do have the abstracts for the others in the same general area and thus far we have not found the public beach access easement language we found in the other 64 parcels to the west starting at Perdido Skye and going westward all the way to the state park.
So as it has been and will continue to be-------County Beach Access #1 will be challenging. Because unless I missed something--the original grant to the Stillman family from the state board of education found within these two abstracts (Sandy Key and Beach Colony) only have easements for the road and then for minerals and petroleum. No public beach access.
So as I am now starting to see--we may not find any additional access granted within the original deeds of these other properties outside of the original 64 that we have found. And that is okay if that is the way this shakes out. Perhaps that enclave of properties will be the only area of Perdido key East of the state park that has private beaches? We will know soon.
Meanwhile, the HUGE win remains.
We KNOW with certainty that from the state park going eastward to and including Perdido Skye--every deed in between that area has the "southerly 75' easement for public beach access for a public beach" language contained within. That is a LOT of soon to be opened-up public beach access for the people.
More importantly--that also opens up the possibility that if the public has access to that large swath of previously "thought to have been" private beach area--that we may be able to station lifeguards at access points #2 and #3 to improve public safety there. That will be a win of epic proportion that stands even if we do not find another single parcel that contains public beach access language.
More to come, 8 more abstracts left to examine.
11 comments:
** just a note-- it's La Playa next to BA 1. La Riva is down the way, one parcel from BA 2.
Access 1 may be challenging in the short term, the county should continue its pursuit. The multiple clear instances of renourishment should provide a legal route to opening all of these beaches. There should be ZERO compromise on this issue. Grateful for progress, but the benefits of having the entirety of Perdido open to public use are worth a sustained fight. It is a county resource that was stolen, albeit legally, by the powerful. Unfortunately, they weren’t powerful enough to find their own beach renourishment in perpetuity. Thus, they lost.
Is this not just a legal paperwork issue? Do we not have enough evidence of multiple instances of publicly funded renourishment?
What renourishment? Please give Dates of when this happened!
I find it disingenuous for someone to remain anonymous when promoting to undo a legal ruling. One of the premises in this country are property rights. There are miles of beach available to the general public either in the state park or national seashore. Maybe you should solicit your congressman to petition the department of the interior to wave fees to access the national seashore.
Nicholas, owner in Sandy Key.
Nicholas, fees may be an obstacle for some but lack of parking is the obstacle for most.
Alice, former owner in Grand Caribbean.
That's a shame about Access #1, as it has the most parking of all of the public accesses.
The owners at those properties have paid millions of dollars in property taxes based on the premise that they had exclusive access to the property that they owned.
We drove down the beach road yesterday from Johnson Beach Road into Orange Beach to look at the various beach access points. If Commissioner Bergosh really wants to do a service for his constituents a great place to start would be to open up the closed accessed points at the state park, and other public beach access points. There is a parking lot (blocked/ closed), looks like toilets- (closed), paths- (closed). The County should beef up the parking and amenities at the existing PUBLIC points and look at adjacent parking potential across the street from these points. I'm sure they can find a way to increase parking if they focus on that. Regarding the previous post re: Access Point #1, yes it does seem to have the most parking which is a shame, especially since you have discovered those adjacent properties to the left and right of the 50 ' public patch is PRIVATE property. You need to publicly clarify that more via signs with your name on them or allow those properties to enforce no trespassing to protect those rights. The damage has been done and their properties are being flooded by non owners thanks to the chaos you have created.
That’s just not what property taxes… Bit still, have you considered that the collective of non-gulf front property owners in Escambia county are paying significantly more property tax than you and your fellow gulf front property owners? Fighting against what was intended to be a perpetual right to public access is just wrong.
Gulf front property should have never been developed, it will be a perpetual burden to our states insurance industry. Kinda like welfare recipients, really, never paying close to your fair share.
Your property taxes, insurance and even your HOA, are not relevant in this discussion. This is about fighting to restore our intended perpetual public access. Or worst case, reclaiming beaches that have been renourished with tax dollars.
I agree that the state park sites still not open is more important and could quickly be done. If the title review is true then forget about Access 1. Also the area even questioned is unclear on these private properties … feet from waters edge? It certainly Never provided for breaking into pools and parking lots and shower areas but it does happen.
"non-gulf front property owners in Escambia county are paying significantly more property tax than you"
"Fighting against ... perpetual right to public access is just wrong."
"Gulf front property should have never been developed"
"...county resource that was stolen"
All above are absurd, emotional conjecture.
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