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For Coastal Zone Managers
Beach Access
Beach Access
Below, examples pertaining to beach access follow an
outline of the Surfrider Foundation's goals in this area.
Beach Access Goals
- Free and uninterrupted access along the beach (at a minimum to the mean
high water line, and ideally inland to the line of established upland vegetation).
- An access to the beach at least every half-mile in high population areas.
- A diverse range of access types (pedestrian, vehicular, view) with a range
of amenities to meet user needs (parks, walkways/boardwalks, street ends)
and minimize adverse environmental impacts.
- An accurate and up to date
inventory of access sites.
- Dedicated funds for land acquisition.
- 'No
net loss' of beach access.
- Regular collection of beach attendance records
and analysis of supply and demand, including an economic evaluation of beaches.
- Public education about beach access, including customary or prescriptive
right to beach access.
Program Examples
CALIFORNIA
The California Coastal
Conservancy is a key player in public access in California. The California
Coastal Conservancy uses entrepreneurial techniques to purchase, protect,
restore, and enhance coastal resources, and to provide access to the shore.
Conservancy staff works in partnership with local governments, other public
agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private landowners. To date, the Conservancy
has undertaken more than 700 projects along the California shoreline. The
goals of the California Coastal Conservancy are to:
- Improve public access
to the coast and bay shores by acquiring land and easements and by building
trails and stairways. It also seeks to create low-cost accommodations along
the coast, including campgrounds and hostels.
- Protect and enhance coastal
wetlands, streams and watersheds.
- Restore urban waterfronts for public
use and coastal dependent industries, especially commercial fishing. · Resolve
coastal land use conflicts.
- Acquire and hold environmentally valuable coastal
lands for purposes that are in keeping with the Coastal Act.
- Protect agricultural
lands.
- Accept donations and dedications of land and easements for public
access, agriculture, open space, and habitat protection.
Since 1976, the
Conservancy has used well over $200 million to complete its projects. The
Conservancy has primarily been funded by state general obligation bonds.
California Coastal Conservancy
1330 Broadway, Suite 1100
Oakland, CA 94612-2539
Phone:
(510) 286-1015
For more information check out their Web site at:
http://www.scc.ca.gov/
While
information is limited, the Conservancy Web site does provide access to current
and past issues of Coast and Ocean magazine.
Along the California coast the
general public has historically used numerous coastal areas. Trails to the
beach, informal parking areas, beaches, and bluff tops have provided recreational
opportunities for hiking, picnicking, fishing, swimming, surfing, diving,
viewing and nature study. California law provides that under certain conditions,
long-term public access across private property may result in the establishment
of a permanent public easement. This is called a public prescriptive right
of access. The Coastal Public Access Program includes a prescriptive rights
element whereby the Coastal Commission researches and inventories the historic
public use of areas with the potential for significant public access benefits.
Where research indicates that the public use is substantial enough to create
potential prescriptive rights, the Attorney General's office has the authority
to proceed with the legal action necessary to protect those areas. California's
Prescriptive Rights Program website is a MUST SEE for surfers and other ocean
enthusiasts interested in maintaining and preserving beach access.
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/prc-access.html
For more details see also "Some Facts About Public Prescriptive Rights" on
this website.
The revised and expanded sixth edition of the Coastal Access Guide California identifies more than 890 public
access coastal areas.
Access sites have a range of amenities, from basic features like a dirt pull-off
along the highway or a staircase at the end of a street that descends to
the beach, to large parks complete with parking, campgrounds, and restrooms.
For information on how to get a copy of the 6th edition of the Coastal Access Guide go
to:
ttp://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/accessguide.html
FLORIDA
Several publications
are available online via the Florida Coastal Management Program (FCMP) website,
including the 150 page Florida Assessment of Coastal Trends (FACT) 2000 report.
http://bcs.dep.state.fl.us/bchmngmt/reports/fact2000.pdf
This
document is a great source of information on beach health indicators in Florida.
It describes and reports on what are actually referred to as a series of
'INDICATORS' in areas including biodiversity and natural areas, coastal access,
coastal hazards, and community stewardship. It is filled with facts and figures
that paint a picture of the state of the beach in Florida. This thorough,
well-written document is a MUST READ, and may well serve as a national measurement
model.
The 2000 FACT report, which among its 12 pages on beach access, outlines
two goals:
- To provide and/or enhance public access to natural, historical,
cultural, and recreational coastal resources that does not damage or degrade
these resources; and
- To promote and enhance community awareness of public
access points, as well as the rights and responsibilities surrounding access.
These goals have been adopted by the FCMP.
According to the 2000 FACT report,
the state of Florida has invested more money than any other state to purchase
land and conservation easements for recreational access, preserve the state's
drinking water supply, and provide essential wildlife habitat. Two programs,
the Conservation and Recreation Lands (CARL) and Florida Communities Trust
(FCT), acquire coastal lands to provide permanent public access points. Since
1990, CARL and FCT have received most of their funding through a $3 billion
Florida Preservation 2000 bond referendum passed in 1990. A new $3 billion
Florida Forever bond measure to continue funding land acquisition was passed
in 1999. From 1990 to 1999, they have spent a total of $835,221,545 to purchase
land that increases the public's access to the coast. In 1999, they acquired
236,118 acres of coastal lands.
Several Surfrider Foundation chapters in Florida, along with others interested
in a establishing a comprehensive set of laws to protect citizen's access to
public beaches, have drafted a Florida Open Beaches Act that they hope to have
adopted by the Florida legislature. More info.
NORTH CAROLINA
The state's position is that
although state ownership ends at the mean high water line, the public has
always enjoyed the right to use the full width and breadth of the state's
ocean beaches seaward of the dune line, under the common law theories of
customary use since "time immemorial," the public trust doctrine, implied
dedication, or alternatively, prescriptive use. Therefore, the state is asking
the court to declare that the public is legally entitled to use the entire
beach between the ocean and the vegetation or dune line.
The North Carolina
Division of Coastal Management's (NCDCM) interactive online Public Beach
and Waterfront Access site locator provides a wealth of information on beach
access sites in North Carolina including: amenities (restrooms, showers,
etc.), parking, directions, and a site photo. The public access sites presented
here are grouped into four main types: regional, neighborhood, local, and
urban waterfront. This access site database includes only those sites for
which DCM provided funding. There may be other locally funded public access
sites that use the DCM sign but are not shown in their data.
DCM continues
to add access sites every year. Twenty access sites were added since 1999.
The North Carolina Shore & Beach Preservation Association (NCSBPA) and NCDCM
announced on November 18, 2002 a new joint initiative to fully map all of
North Carolina's public beach accessways in time for the 2003 summer beach
season. DCM has already identified many public beach and waterfront accessways
on its website, http://www.nccoastalmanagement.net/Access/sites.htm, focusing on
those sites that have been funded at least partly through CAMA grants over
the past 20 years.
A survey conducted by NCSBPA and NCDCM in 2003 and 2004 identified 550 public access points, 6,256 parking spaces at lots and street ends, and 43 restroom facilities along the state's ocean beaches. In the survey, Emerald Isle led other coastal communities in access points per mile -- 17 sites per mile. North Topsail Beach had the most access parking spaces at 897 spaces. Wrightsville Beach averaged the most access parking spaces per mile -- 150 spaces per mile.
The Division of Coastal Management awards matching grants
to local governments to establish public-access sites. Coastal Management
has awarded grants totaling $1.4 million to 17 local governments for public-access
projects in 2001. Information on the grants program is available at
http://www.nccoastalmanagement.net/Access/access.htm
HAWAII
According to the Hawaii Coastal Management Program (HCMP), all beaches
in Hawaii are publicly owned.
Hawaii's 1997 CZM Assessment reports that on
August 31, 1995, the Supreme Court of Hawaii issued its decision in Public
Access Shoreline Hawaii v. County of Hawaii County Planning Commission, commonly
known as the "P.A.S.H. Decision." The litigation arose when the Planning
Commission denied the plaintiffs a contested case hearing on whether they
had traditional and customary rights to access and use of certain anchialine
pools situated within the developer's property. At its core, the decision
established that the plaintiffs had standing to present evidence before the
Planning Commission with respect to their rights to exercise traditional
and customary practices.
Hawaii's 1997 CZM Assessment reports that public-private
partnerships and private land conservation efforts exist on a small scale
in Hawaii, but in recent years they have been increasing. Frequently known
as the "land trust movement," private conservation organizations are acquiring
greenways, open space, community gardens, natural habitats, trails, and other
lands with high "public" values. Projects like the acquisition of the shoreline
areas of the Marks' Estate on Windward Oahu by the City and County of Honolulu
with the assistance of The Trust for Public Land, illustrate the potential
for these activities. In addition to the well-established The Nature Conservancy
- Hawaii, other national organizations such as The Trust for Public Land
and Ducks Unlimited are also becoming more active in Hawaii. Local organizations
such as Maui Open Space Trust, Kauai Public Land Trust, and Protect Kohanaiki
Ohana, are also becoming more active. More recently, the North Shore Community Land Trust, working with many partners including the Trust for Public Land, Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter, Surfrider Japan, the state and federal governments and the military, successfully concluded the Campaign for Pupukea-Paumalu, purchasing and protecting the 1,129-acre Pupukea Paumalu coastal bluff that overlooks the world's most famous surfing breaks on the North Shore.
Two other good sources of beach access information are beachacesshawaii.org and Surfrider Foundation's Oahu Chapter. Their website has a good summary of Hawaii beach access laws and a collection of photos of blocked beach accesses.
Hawaii has approximately 319 total
public-access sites for 360 miles of coastline, which is on average one access
point every 1.1 miles. In addition, the State's public access is high quality.
Maui has 24 beach parks, and most have parking with paved access and restrooms.
Oahu has seven regional parks and 61 local beach/shoreline parks. Kauai has
18 beach parks, and Molokai has six beach parks. In total, Hawaii has 116
beach parks, which is 36% of all the beach access on the islands.
The following Web sites contain beach access information:
Kauai
Oahu
Hawaii
Maui
Each county
planning or tourism department publishes a guide to Beach Access sites:
- Maui County Office of the Mayor. Maui County's Shoreline Access Guide. 1994.
(Also contains information for Molokai and Lanai.)
- County of Kauai Planning
Department. Kauai Beach Access Guide. June 1984.
- County of Hawaii Planning
Department. Shoreline Public Access Guide. April 1981.
- City and County
of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting. Summary of Public Access.
Date Unknown.
OREGON
Oregon's 'Beach Bill' guarantees the public the right
to use the dry sand beach along the entire coast. The public rights under
the beach bill are managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
(OPRD) under ORS 390.610. This statute spells out the policies ensuring free
and uninterrupted public use of the beach from ordinary high water up to
the statutory vegetation line or the line of established upland shore vegetation,
whichever is further inland.
Statewide Planning Goal 17 - Coastal Shorelands
also serves to preserve and protect public access. This goal requires that
public lands, rights of way, and easements which provide physical or visual
access to coastal waters not be sold unless some public access or potential
for access across the property is retained.
The 2001 Assessment states that
ninety percent of Oregon's 362 miles of ocean shoreline is open to the public.
A survey in 2000 identified 645 points of 'perpendicular' access to the ocean
shore.
The Oregon Coastal Atlas is an interactive beach access Web site. It
includes 684 known ocean beach access locations, most of which are protected
as official inventoried sites. The Web site allows users to view ground photos
of access sites and provides information on location, path to beach, parking,
landforms (such as bluffs, dunes, wetlands, forest, or bay), man-made features
(such as a lighthouse, bridge, jetties or marina), and recreational activities,
including surfing, at each access site. It also provides orthophotography
for the entire Oregon coast. This great resource can be accessed at:
http://www.coastalatlas.net/
Oregon State Parks has a site with an interactive map that lets you zoom
in on your area of interest and locate state parks. The site provides basic
descriptions of the parks, including parking, beach access, camping restrictions,
etc. It can be found at:
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/searchpark.php
TEXAS
Texas
has an Open Beach Act preserving the public's right to free and unrestricted
access to and use of the beach. The responsibility for protecting the public's
right to use and enjoy the beach is shared by the state and local coastal
governments. Cities and counties along the coast are required to adopt laws
to protect the public's beach access rights. Usually these local laws are
adopted as beach access plans. Signs should be posted to explain the nature
and extent of vehicle controls, parking areas, and access points. For more
information please refer to the Texas General Land Office Web site at
http://www.glo.state.tx.us/coastal/access/
The boundaries of the public beach extend from the line of mean low tide
of the Gulf of Mexico landward to the natural line of vegetation or larger
contiguous areas to which the public has acquired a right of use or easement
over. Some beaches allow vehicles on the public beach, while some are pedestrian
only. Where vehicles, including recreational vehicles, are prohibited from
driving on and along the beach, public access should be provided every half-mile
with adequate parking on or adjacent to the beach to accommodate one parking
space for every 15 linear feet of beach.
WISCONSIN
A great new online coastal access resource is University of Wisconsin Sea Grant's Wisconsin Coastal Guide. From this site you can click on "Beaches" and then a particular beach to get a map and for many locations a 360 degree panorama.
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