PENSACOLA – Owners of a beachfront property in Walton County lost their request for an emergency injunction against the county order closing all beaches, public and private, to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The plaintiffs include former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
The county’s order closing the beaches violates the U.S. Constitution protection against private property being taken for public use without just compensation, according to the suit filed April 6.
It prevents the plaintiffs from “physically being able to occupy their own backyards,” the suit states.
“Plaintiffs have followed the CDC guidelines and never had a group of more than 10 people together,” the suit states. “In addition, there is plenty of room for compliance with social distancing. In fact, one Plaintiff’s use of his privately-owned beach (i.e., backyard) on April 3, 2020 shows he is much further away from anyone than he would be even within his own house.”
U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson held a hearing on the lawsuit April 14 by telephone. Walton County attorneys argued that the ordinance was designed to keep all people off the beaches. The judge agreed, refusing the property owners’ request for an emergency injunction against the county, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported.
“The primary public interest here is you don’t put people in an area where they can be exposed to COVID-19,” the judge said.
Vinson said he did not think it was likely the property owners would win their case at trial.
“We have no additional comment other than we will adhere to the judge’s ruling,” Walton County spokesman Louis E. Svehla told the Florida Record.
Dodero et al v. Walton Count, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, Pensacola division, 3:20-cv-05358