In an 8-0 decision, the nations highest court ruled that beach renourishment along the Florida Panhandle does not amount to a taking of private property.  When the state deems a stretch of beach “critically eroded” it brings in new sand to replenish the beach in an effort to protect against storm damage.  The problem, as several waterfront property owners saw it, is that the newly created beach is public property.  So, according to landowners, what was once private waterfront property now stops at the beach and the waterfront is public.  In an April ”It’s Your Land” Fox News investigation before the ruling, landowner Linda Cherry from nearby Destin, Florida said, “We want to be able to keep our beach; it’s what we paid for, it’s what is described in our deeds… When we buy property on the beach we assume that Mother Nature might take our backyard. We don’t expect the government to take our backyard.”

The Supreme Court Justices disagreed with Cherry’s viewpoint and today rejected the challenge to the state’s beach renourishment program brought by six Walton County property owners.  In a statement Kent Safriet and Richard Brightman, attorneys for the homeowners, wrote “We are deeply disappointed by today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling and we are fearful that it will lead to more incidences of government unfairly taking private property away from hard working citizens.”  Calling private property rights “the cornerstone of our society’s prosperity and freedom,” the two vow to “continue to work tirelessly to protect private property from governmental tyranny.”

The City of Destin, Florida, while not named in the Supreme Court case, was a party to lower court action and funded half of the litigation costs in this case.  Destin City manager Greg Kisela said he “couldn’t be more pleased with the ruling.”  Kisela went on to say “We never believed for a second there was a judicial taking of anyone’s property.  Hopefully this gives bright lights to cities and counties in the state to go ahead with beach restoration where it is needed.”  City and state officials maintain that the beach restoration is needed in order to protect upland structures.  “Those beaches provide a buffer and storm protection not just for private property, but public infrastructure,” Kisela said.