I'm in receipt of an email from Attorney Steve Moorhead this week regarding public beach access easements that were discovered earlier this year. Apparently, there are some folks and some condominium HOA's that are going to attempt to use the courts to invalidate/remove/extinguish the public access easements on the parcels that contain this language out in Perdido Key. I reported on this a few weeks back.
This turn of events is very unfortunate. The last thing anyone wants is litigation. We dealt with it when we opened Access #4 and folks in the surrounding areas did not want that. We prevailed.
Now a large swath of what we have discovered to be publicly accessible beach properties will be be in jeopardy. But in this instance, just as was the case with beach access #4, the people will prevail.
Because the plain language on these deeds says what it says and I don't see the way by which these easements can be yanked--they were stipulated, on the deeds, when the Federal Government conveyed this land. If they argue that the public abandoned these easements--I believe that argument fails as well. Folks have used those very beaches and those very easements for decades--including in the 1980's when my dad and I fished up and down that beach and never once saw any resistance--let alone any "No Trespassing" signs. Nope, if they are going to argue that--it will be an untenable position, particularly given the fact they have unclean hands as they (various condo owners and HOA's) sought, at times successfully, over the last 6 years to keep citizens off of these easements utilizing paid security, private property signs, and often paid strong-arm security to run people out. So no, the folks did not voluntarily abandon anything--most were unlawfully forced out of areas to which they were entitled to be per that stipulated clause in all those deeds. But not all of the citizens kowtowed to the no trespassing signs of the last 6 years and continued to use those easments despite the efforts to keep them out. So no, arguing abandonment will fail.
So, no, I am not a lawyer and I don't need to go to law school to see how this movie ends. The effort to remove these easements will fail, and the folks funding this effort will spend a lot of money, this lawyer will make a lot of money in this losing effort and infuriate a lot of west-side citizens in the process----but make no mistake: This effort to take this beach access from the people ultimately fails and the people will win and these easements will remain in place.
This action to further deprive the public of their beach access will be exceedingly unpopular in the court of public opinion---and this action in court to do this will be vigorously defended by the county.
Vigorously.
