"Private Beach" sign at Andante Condos

[rxnut]

We recently bought a cottage in Magnolia Cottages by the Sea. Can anyone tell me about the "private beach" sign that is posted at the end of the boardwalk? It is in front of the Andante condos. Does the condo have legal boundaries all the way down to the waterfront?

[tsutcli]

I was commenting on Andante when I posted a reply under "Beach Chairs 4U All The Way To The Water." They have "Private Beach" signs all over the place and they keep adding more put directly in the dry sand. I walk a few times a week and walk directly past that building so I know for sure. When we lived on the beach our deed read that our property continued all the way to the Gulf. Made no mention of the high water mark only that our property continued to the water. I understand this can be challenged and Andante must furnish a certain document to enforce the "private beach" issue. That document was named on a thread a while back but I cannot remember exactly where it can be found.

[Murray Balkcom]

This is the legal description, according to OR 2630 / 3721, which does indicate the property going to the Gulf of Mexico:

EXHIBIT "A'
Commencing at the intersection of the West line of Government Lot 1, Section 28,
Township 3 South, Range 18 West, Walton County, Florida with South right-of-way of
State Road No. S-30A, 100 foot right-of-way, proceed 112 degrees 55'35" AZ (NAD 27
grid azimuth measured clockwise from North equals zero) 150 feet to Point of Beginning,
thence 181 degrees 55'01" AZ 460.00 feet to a point marking the Gulf of Mexico, thence
meander 112 degrees 55'35" AZ 238.79 feet, thence 2 degrees 01'01" AZ 459.69 feet to
highway, thence 292 degrees 55'35" AZ 239.65 feet to Point of Be ginning.

[Douglas the Intrepid]

I understand this can be challenged and Andante must furnish a certain document to enforce the "private beach" issue. That document was named on a thread a while back but I cannot remember exactly where it can be found.

I believe that document is known as the "Necronomicon" and is also useful for summoning Dagon to help clean up the beach after a rough tourist weekend. ;)

[scooterbug44]

Isn't the Gulf the same as the MHWL?

[Minnie]

We have stayed at Magnolia many times in the last 4 years and honestly I have never seen anyone even coming and going from Andante. Probably some marketing thing they have come up with to try and sell the units. These signs must be recent, as we were there in March and no signs.

[bitty]

We are a Gulf front owner in the Andante/Magnolia location. We have owned our property for many, many years...we watched in agony the construction of too many houses being built across 30-A...i,e, Magnolia. Our deed reads that we own to the mean high tide (wet sand). We have every right to our area in front of our house...as Andante owners do their 280 feet. Those across the street need to understand what gulf front owners are legally entitled to. AND until Walton County comes up with a solution to this...there will continue to be the issue. When you buy property across 30-A you need to understand that you DO NOT have a private beach that goes with the property....Gulf Front owners DO.

[Bobby J]

Here we go again.

[Murray Balkcom]

bitty, Mean High Tide does not = wet sand. Mean High Water Mark (MHWM) = a daily changing boundary which is averaged over a 13 year period of high tides.

You may want to speak with less of a dagger when you talk so bluntly about your property rights. The deed is one thing, and rights are another. For example, there may be prescriptive easements on your property giving other people some use of the property, such is said to be the case with the beaches along our coast. If you think you have full and exclusive rights to the beach because you hold the deed, try to build a storage shed on it and see what the gov't says about that.

[kurt]

And since this was your first post, I'll be gentle....Would you be kind enough to provide me your precise location so I can park my Hog arse in the sand in front of your "Beach" and see what the local law enforcement says... YOUR opinion of YOUR private beach doesn't hold salt water bitty....

go bitty. Unless you survey the mean high water mark daily by a professionally licensed surveyor it means squat and every judge will throw it out.give me your address and i'll bring 50 redneck friends with me and we;ll sit on your "private beach"

Personal attacks are not allowed on SoWal.com. Please be kind and respectful or you will be banned. Attack issues, not people. We want to hear all stories and opinions, even when they are counter to yours.

[kurt]

We are a Gulf front owner in the Andante/Magnolia location. We have owned our property for many, many years...we watched in agony the construction of too many houses being built across 30-A...i,e, Magnolia. Our deed reads that we own to the mean high tide (wet sand). We have every right to our area in front of our house...as Andante owners do their 280 feet. Those across the street need to understand what gulf front owners are legally entitled to. AND until Walton County comes up with a solution to this...there will continue to be the issue. When you buy property across 30-A you need to understand that you DO NOT have a private beach that goes with the property....Gulf Front owners DO.

There are many properties north of Scenic 30A that do include private beach access. There are others that are north of public beach access. I hope you appreciate there is a lot of confusion on the issue, especially from visitors to our area. It sounds like you own property in a contentious area and you are going to be faced with a lot of people who don't understand, and may not care about where your property begins and ends.

The issue is far from settled and I plead with everyone to be reasonable and patient. Let's do our best to be good neighbors.

[Murray Balkcom]

One thing is for sure, if only beach-front owners could use the beach, beach-front owners would have no one to build and maintain their homes, set up beach chairs, cook at restaurants, clean the homes, open shops, work at golf courses, etc.

Historically, people have used the beaches of Florida without objection for many years. The Florida State Supreme Court has previously ruled in favor of beach goers over the deed holders, stating that the beaches were the lifeblood of Florida.

Beachgoers should respect the beach, remove their junk and trash daily, and not interfere with others' peaceful enjoyment, etc. If I owned Gulf-front, I'd be a little more than upset if people trashed my backyard.

[Andy A]

Every year we have this issue arise and, on its face, it is totally stupid and unneeded. The beach is for everyone's use and all beachfront owners should ask is that those using it should pick up after themselves and be respectful of the environment and property.
I would love to see the Walton County Commission issue a ban on ALL signage of any kind, except for that involving safely, on our beaches. It would seem to me that if we can govern signage on 98, 30A and the Timpoochee Trail, we should certainly be able to do so on the beaches. The signs are an abomination and totally without merit. Contact your County Commissioners and request they do something to maintain the ambiance and beauty of our beaches by requiring that the "private property" signs be removed.

[Zebraspots]

Apparently some people didn't learn the basics in kindergarten.

Share toys, pick up after yourself, play nice, and don't run with scissors.

[Murray Balkcom]

Signs on the beach are likely already covered by laws since they can interfere with turtle nesting.

I believe you might also have a case against signs being erected on property that may not be your own. Without the daily survey for those properties extending to the MHWM, how would one be sure where the property boundaries begin and end?

[MTB]

Well said Murray.