Gov. Ron DeSantis to decide on customary use bill
WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – The customary use bill that passed both the Florida House and Senate a month ago is still not law.
Sen. Jay Trumbull, who sponsored the bill, said it went to Gov. Ron DeSantis last week. He expects the governor will sign it into law within the next two weeks.
The bill would repeal a 2018 law allowing private beaches in Walton County. Trumbull said he introduced the repeal bill to restore total beach access to the public.
Bill to restore customary use moving through state senate after roadblock
Most assume that, once it becomes law, it will bring private beaches to an end. But that may not be the case.
'What happens day one after the governor signs this bill, the simple answer is, legally, nothing changes on the Walton County beaches,' Interim County Attorney Clay Atkinson said.
Atkinson explained that if the bill becomes law, it would not supersede any of the legal judgments or any of the agreements the county negotiated with individual land owners from 2018 to 2024.
But the law would still hold significance for Walton County. It establishes that the county's beaches are badly eroded and need renourishment.
If the county extends the sandy beaches, it would create more area that would be accessible to the public south of the Erosion Control Line.
'If there is not a beach to use because it goes away in the storm, there's necessarily gonna be no public use rights. But the more public beach there is, especially with ECL, all those land seaward create more public use rights,' Atkinson added.
Walton County has $60 million in tourist development council beach renourishment money and another $60 million in federal matching funds.
County officials are currently planning to begin renourishment, but have not set a date.
As for the customary use bill, DeSantis can either sign it, veto it, or ignore it, in which case it becomes law without his signature within 30 days.
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