Oregonians struggling to maintain public access to Pacific Ocean beaches won a decisive battle in 1967 with the passage of legislation commonly known as the Beach Bill, which established public access to Oregon’s beaches from the first dune to the sea.
In the summer of 1966, however William Hay, owner of the Surfsand Motel in Cannon Beach, asserted his property rights. He placed large driftwood logs to block off a section of the dry sand area in front of the motel, setting up umbrellas and tables within the enclosed area and posting private property signs on the perimeter.
Only the wet-sand portion of the state’s beaches had been set aside as a state highway, and many landowners along the coast had deeds with rights to develop the dry-sand areas. According to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, 112 of the 262 miles of beach property were privately owned.
In response, the State Highway Commission, with Governor Tom McCall’s support, introduced HB 1600 and HB 1601 in the 1967 legislature. The bills copied a Texas law that recognized that the public use of private beach land gave the public the permanent right for the continued use of that land.
“Adverse possession” meant that what most Oregonians had believed—that all beachfront property from the first dune to the sea belonged to the public—was actually true because they had exercised that belief for so many years.
Some info courtesy of https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/oregon_beach_bill/
Commiefornia says the guv owns and controls every grain of sand. And never forget they arrested a guy without a mask for surfing alone during the lockdown.
ReplyDeleteOne of the very few things Oregun got right.
ReplyDelete"Only the wet-sand portion of the state’s beaches had been set aside as a state highway, and many landowners along the coast had deeds with rights to develop the dry-sand areas. "
ReplyDeleteThen government decided to steal legally owned property. Isn't there a "takings clause" somewhere or other?