WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is wading into a new property rights dispute over who owns the sand the state of Florida dumped onto a stretch of beach to control erosion.
The justices are being asked to rule for the first time that a court decision can amount to a taking of property. The Constitution requires governments to pay “just compensation” when they take private property for public use.
Six homeowners on the Gulf of Mexico are challenging a Florida Supreme Court decision that ratified the designation of the new sand along nearly seven miles of storm-battered beach that stretches through the city of Destin and neighboring Walton County as public property, depriving them of the exclusive beach access they previously enjoyed.
They say the ruling “suddenly and dramatically changed” state law on beach property and caused their property values to decline. The homeowners want the state to pay them undetermined compensation for “taking” their property, which Florida law had long recognized as extending to the water.
The Obama administration and 26 states are backing Florida in urging the court to reject the challenge.
The state says it did not touch the homeowners’ existing beach property and undertook the sand-pumping project to preserve the area’s attractiveness to tourists, but also to protect the homes and the beach in front of them.
The homeowners still have private beachfront and can use the new stretch of sand paid for with taxpayer dollars, the state says.
Some of the homes are already near beaches with public access, meaning beachgoers could walk to a part of the sand that was previously deemed private.
Local News
<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/new.gif" border=0> Beachfront property dispute at Supreme Court
- Local News
-
-
Water company cites reconnections
The May 22 tornado has caused a dramatic drop in water usage for the Missouri American Water Co., but things are starting to turn around — one reconnection at a time.
-
Survivor of ’78 Connor collapse dead at age 64
A big story in the history of Joplin was the 1978 collapse of the Connor Hotel at Fourth and Main streets. Alfred Summers, the man at the heart of that story, died at 6:41 a.m. Friday at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Joplin after an illness. He was 64.
-
County asks for dismissal of sheriff’s suit
The Jasper County Commission is the final authority in budget allocations, including those from the county’s Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund, county lawyers have argued in a motion recently filed in Jasper County Circuit Court.
-
Winter weather back in forecast
The arctic front that passed over Missouri on Friday will bring cold temperatures to the region tonight.
-
Weather service upgrading radar at Springfield station
The National Weather Service radar station at Springfield will be out of service for about two weeks to permit the installation of dual-polarization technology.
-
MSSU, PSU to conduct financial-aid events
Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and Pittsburg (Kan.) State University each will conduct events Sunday to help high school seniors with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
-
Authorities term deaths of teens murder-suicide
Authorities say a teenage woman apparently shot her estranged boyfriend several times before turning the gun on herself and taking her own life.
-
Mike Pound: One man in America wants his robo call
I like to think I have pretty thick skin. If I didn’t, all the emails I get with the subject lines that read “Hey moron” would bother me. But they don’t, so I do.
-
Proposed Kan. abortion ban blocked by abortion foe
An influential anti-abortion legislator is blocking the push for a ban on abortion in the Kansas Constitution, highlighting a split among abortion opponents over tactics and frustrating the group advocating the “personhood” proposal Friday.
-
Kansas House GOP issues tax plan
House Republican leaders are proposing a plan to cut Kansas income taxes, removing one key objection to an earlier proposal from Gov. Sam Brownback.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
