Mike Huckabee’s Epic Fight to Keep Beachgoers Off His Patch of Florida Sand

[annabenedetti]

Who does the beach belong to?

Not long after his failed 2008 presidential bid, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee bought a beachfront plot in the Florida Panhandle and built a three-story, 10,000-square-foot mansion, with six bedrooms, seven-and-a-half bathrooms, and a pool. By planting his flag in the Florida sugar sand, Huckabee was escaping Arkansas income taxes and joining other rich Republicans who owned houses in this particular part of Walton County, including Karl Rove. . . .

There was just one problem: Huckabee built his dream house on a public beach, a spot where some of the more than 4 million spring breakers and tourists who come to Walton County each year had been parking their lawn chairs and fishing poles since time immemorial. That meant the Fox News contributor had to share much of the 115-foot-long spit of sand in front of his $6 million house with those who helped pay for it—the people who watch his TV show. And he didn’t like it one bit.

So Huckabee, father of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, lobbied local officials to cleanse it of the riffraff. Now, along with his rich neighbors, he’s taken the matter to court. In doing so, he and the other wealthy beachfront property owners have set off an epic legal battle, one that has Florida cops booting unsuspecting tourists off the beaches just as summer vacation season sets in. . . .

The issue has become so toxic that the state’s Republican governor skipped out on some public appearances to avoid protesters last year. Beach access activists say the legal fight has larger implications, not just for Florida but across the country, as wealthy, powerful people try to annex public beachfronts for their private benefit. “This is just the beginning,” says Santa Rosa Beach attorney Daniel Uhlfelder, one of the activists leading the fight against beach privatization. “If they’re able to pull this off, they’re going to take this to other coastlines around the country.”

 

[aCultureWarrior]

This isn't in defense of the Hucksterbee, but in defense of private property rights. I've been on beaches where hotel's controlled the land, i.e. you could pass through but you couldn't put down your beach chair unless you were a guest.

Do homeowners not have that right as well?

 

[annabenedetti]

This isn't in defense of the Hucksterbee, but in defense of private property rights. I've been on beaches where hotel's controlled the land, i.e. you could pass through but you couldn't put down your beach chair unless you were a guest.

Do homeowners not have that right as well?

I don't think they should. Property on the coastline is generally owned by the wealthy, and the beaches should be open to every citizen - with exceptions as needed, like a military installation. Camp Pendleton takes up a lot of CA coastline but that's a good thing, the land is almost pristine, and you can almost see what the SoCal coast would've looked like a couple hundred years ago. Plus hopefully it'll always be there, it's the only thing that kept coastal LA and San Diego from running into each other.

 

[aCultureWarrior]

This isn't in defense of the Hucksterbee, but in defense of private property rights. I've been on beaches where hotel's controlled the land, i.e. you could pass through but you couldn't put down your beach chair unless you were a guest.

Do homeowners not have that right as well?

I don't think they should. Property on the coastline is generally owned by the wealthy, and the beaches should be open to every citizen - with exceptions as needed, like a military installation. Camp Pendleton takes up a lot of CA coastline but that's a good thing, the land is almost pristine, and you can almost see what the SoCal coast would've looked like a couple hundred years ago. Plus hopefully it'll always be there, it's the only thing that kept coastal LA and San Diego from running into each other.

I pretty much agree unless there are extenuating circumstances. If the people that are using the beachfront are leaving garbage, hypodermic needles, etc. behind or/and if they're being disruptive (i.e. breaking laws against public nudity, urination/defecation, etc.). If the Hucksterbee can show the above, then he has a case. If not, beachfront should be open to the public.