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Public access to Florida beaches will be harder for local governments to guarantee under new law

 
See that line of seaweed and other ocean debris on the right side of this photo on Belleair Beach? That's the mean high-water line. A new Florida law restricts how easily cities and counties could pass ordinances to guarantee people can use the sand above that line. [Photo by Jim Damaske | Tampa Bay Times]
See that line of seaweed and other ocean debris on the right side of this photo on Belleair Beach? That's the mean high-water line. A new Florida law restricts how easily cities and counties could pass ordinances to guarantee people can use the sand above that line. [Photo by Jim Damaske | Tampa Bay Times]
Published April 6, 2018

HB 631, which Gov. Rick Scott signed into law in March, "blocks local governments from adopting ordinances to allow continued public entry to privately owned beaches even when property owners may want to block off their land," according to Craig Pittman at the Tampa Bay Times.

It's been a constant battle in some parts of Florida, with property owners in some cases going so far as to try to rope off parts of the beachfront to keep people away. Three counties — St. Johns, Volusia and Walton — have passed local ordinances barring property owners from taking such action. The new law restricts any such ordinances enacted after Jan. 1, 2016.