4 ms·
Its even worse in the north east. In Mass. and Maine property owners can (due to an old colonial era law) own property to the low tide line and deny access not
by bazzert 7y ago
Its even worse in the north east. In Mass. and Maine property owners can (due to an old colonial era law) own property to the low tide line and deny access not only to the access, but to the beach itself.
- markdown 7y agoAre you sure it's colonial era law? Elsewhere in the world colonial era law ensured public access up to the high tide line.
- bazzert 7y agoExactly, in fact in the British Isles even the land above the high tide line (I forget the exact extent) is public. In New England they wanted to encourage the development of docks (to promote more commerce) and extended ownership to include the land on which docks would be built.
- bazzert 7y agoIts discussed in this article. http://www.islandinstitute.org/working-waterfront/%E2%80%8Bpublic-ownership-maine%E2%80%99s-shore-courts-got-it-wrong http://www.islandinstitute.org/working-waterfront/%E2%80%8Bp... "1647 Colonial Ordinance enacted by the Massachusetts Bay Colony ceded title to all intertidal land in what would become the state of Massachusetts to upland owners to encourage “wharfing out” (marine commerce)."
- bazzert 7y agoThis is a pretty good roundup of the topic. http://stage.mvmagazine.com/news/2007/07/01/private-beaches http://stage.mvmagazine.com/news/2007/07/01/private-beaches