A group of multi-millionaire homeowners in Florida are fighting to protect their exclusive access to some of the state’s most scenic beaches from tourists.
Residents in Walton County are attempting to keep off visitors from their private beaches as a growing number of tourists argue that their property rights are unfair.
The county which boasts 26 miles of crystal blue water coastline and 16 beachside communities has become a vacation hotspot in the past few years.
Last year, the county hosted over 2.3 million tourists and counting and about 1.3 million people visited this spring.
But as popularity increases, longtime beachgoers argue that public access area has become extremely crowded over the years.
This summer, Georgia resident James Jordan rented a three-bedroom home for his family for four nights for about $3,200 total in hopes of having a perfect beach vacation but was left disappointed after it was swarming with people.
‘In one word: crowded. The hardest part was you could look across this imaginary line and see unused beach,’ he told the Wall Street Journal.
But South Walton property owners have refused to give up their private access – claiming that they paid for it with their houses years ago.
Eric Wilhelm, founder of two supply-chain companies based in Atlanta revealed that he made the ‘very conscious decision’ to buy two multimillion dollar worth properties along the coastline with private beaches as he felt it was quieter and safer than other nearby vacation destinations.
‘A lot of my neighbors are third-, fourth-generation beach owners down there, and that’s their biggest, biggest asset,’ he told the publication.
The issue has further escalated after officials created a legal settlement agreement, making more than 1,000 beachfront properties private in Walton County earlier this year – causing protests and legal action.
John Dillard, Concerned Citizen with the Support Open Florida Sand & Beaches Facebook group explained: ‘One of the things we’re really focused on is trying to raise awareness both locally and regionally, where all of our tourists come from, to raise awareness about the problems that we’re having down here on the beach because it’s not fun to go to the beach anymore.
‘There’s security guards, police, red cones, orange cones, all kinds of signs just kind of creating stress when it used to be a stress-free environment.’
Since then, hundreds of appeals have been filed by private property owners and regular visitors in hopes to change the law.