Homeowner Group’s Effort to Block Shoreline Access Law Is Denied by Federal Court
Thursday, September 21, 2023
U.S. District Court Judge William Smith ruled that the Rhode Island Association of Coastal Taxpayers (RIACT) “lacked the proper standing to sue” over the recently passed law that protects access to Rhode Island’s coast.
The decision is a victory for advocacy groups who have been fighting for years to protect the public’s access to the coast.
RIACT, a group of anonymous beachfront property owners, filed the federal lawsuit this past summer. The group claimed in announcing the suit in July, “Many of RIACT members own title, in fee simple, to beachfront property in Rhode Island. Under their titles and the common law of the state, the shorelands lying seaward of the mean high water (MHW) line are public, but the lands located inland of the MHW line are held in private ownership."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“The state recently enacted a law, H. 5174 (“Act”), which abrogates the traditional MHW line boundary separating public and private beach areas and sets a new boundary at a more inland location, thereby expanding the public beach area inland at the expense of private property," it stated.
Smith's Decision
Smith states in his decision, “RIACT fears prosecution or citation if its members attempt to eject or dissuade people from encroaching on their property. Pre-enforcement injunctions against prosecutorial agencies are a rare bird; to succeed RIACT must show its members ‘intend to violate or are violating an existing law,” and “the threat of prosecution is sufficiently real to provide standing.’”
“Defendants [Rhode Island DEM, CRMC and Attorney General] say no such threat exists, and no evidence suggests RIACT’s members plan to take any unlawful actions that would result in citation or prosecution,” wrote Smith. “Thus, RIACT has failed to trace the injury claimed (the taking) to the Defendants sued Dressing up the claim as a ‘fear of prosecution’ is like putting lipstick on a pig. Standing cannot rest solely on speculation and the Court cannot grant RIACT’s members a license to exclude would-be trespassers.”
Further, Smith questions if the homeowner group’s lawsuit is properly before federal court. “Because RIACT cannot tie the named Defendants to the constitutional harm allegedly inflicted by the Act or its cure, the case is not properly in federal court,” wrote Smith.
Purpose of the Law
The Rhode Island General Assembly said after the passage of the bill in June, "The law is intended to finally provide a clear, easily identifiable border between private property and the area of the shore that the public is constitutionally entitled to use and enjoy."
"The right of Rhode Islanders to access the shoreline was written into the state constitution when it was adopted in 1843, and further delineated after the 1986 constitutional convention. Yet exactly where public area ends remained a debated issue that has intensified with development of the shoreline over the last century," said the General Assembly press release.
"A 1982 state Supreme Court case, State vs. Ibbison, established the boundary of the public’s shore access at the mean high tide line, defined as the average of high tides over an 18.6-year cycle, which continually changes with the shifting sands of the coast and rising sea levels. The Supreme Court’s decision has led to much conflict because it is impossible for anyone walking along the shore to know where that shifting line is," said the release.
“Public shoreline rights have long been cherished by Rhode Islanders, which is why they were guaranteed in our state constitution in the first place. But it’s impossible to protect that right when no one can tell where the public shoreline ends. The lack of a clear definition has caused problems in our state for decades. Our commission put a great deal of care into exploring this issue, working with experts, advocates and property owners to develop a reasonable definition of the public shoreline’s edge that will protect Rhode Islander’s constitutional right without taking private property," said Representative Terri Cortvriend (D-Dist. 72, Portsmouth, Middletown).
"I believe this legislation is a very fair way to finally settle this question, which really should be clear in a place known as the Ocean State, where beaches and shores are so critical to our identity and economy,” added Cortvriend.
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