COMMENT OF THE DAY: WE’RE UNDER YOUR BEACH HOUSE, GRILLIN’ YOUR BURGERZ “It may appear that the homeowner ‘won’ this case, but read the law again. Texas law allows anyone to place a blanket on the beach, right up to the vegetation line, even if it’s an intrusion on the privacy of a seaside home. Basically, you can have a cookout under the house, park your car, spread out, whatever, and the homeowner has zero ability to do anything about it, as the home is within the vegetation boundary.” [mikeyyc, commenting on Texas Supreme Court: Private Properties Can Erode Public Beaches]
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Works for me if I can use their can.
What I don’t understand about this ruling is how the gradual movement of the line due to erosion can be applied after a storm event takes place. If a storm accelerates the erosion how do you then go back and apply the ruling related to gradual erosion given that the vegation line has already been and gone? Would this technically mean the homeowner can then retain the property right up until it becomes underwater?
Isn’t that how it’s always been, i.e. property owners along the beach run the risk that the vegetation line will shift and they could lose exclusive access to their property? My understanding is that this decision grants a rare exception to the rule that all beaches are public. So, yes, I would call that a win for the propety owner.
It is all about eminent domain. Without the storm rule, if the vegatation line moves behind your house, your house has to come down. With the new storm rule, the state has to buy you out if the vegatation line moves via hurricane.
Fine, let them keep their houses, but I’ll be driving my 4-wheel over their sewage lines.
The next storm will get the house.