A California case now before the U.S. Supreme Court could strengthen the rights of Florida’s coastal property owners when issues of public access to beaches arise, according to the attorney for the petitioners.
The Pacific Legal Foundation is representing Cedar Point Nursery and the Fowler Packing Co. in their quest to invalidate a California labor law that allows union organizers to enter private property periodically 120 days per year. The fruit growers argue that the union organizers’ disruption of commercial operations amounts to a government-sanctioned taking without compensation.
But the foundation hopes the high court will go further than just invalidate the California labor law. The court could strengthen private property rights in a way that benefits property owners throughout the nation, including Florida, according to Joshua Thompson, the foundation’s director of legal operations.
“We have a certain mission, and that mission is to establish important appellate precedents in the courts of appeal and the Supreme Court that can help not just our clients but can set those precedents to help Americans nationwide.” Thompson told the Florida Record.
Often, tensions over access to private property occur in the area of coastal land use, he said. In Florida, for instance, government agencies may want to assure public access to beaches, but beachfront property owners may object to the easements needed to enable the public access – especially if they’re not compensated.
“A ruling in our favor wouldn’t say that California or Florida is prevented from allowing public access,” Thompson said. He explained there should be clarity in the law so that when a public agency grants public access, it must compensate private property owners for any taking to create an easement.
Such a ruling wouldn’t bar states from expanding public access to beaches, according to Thompson. But it would require just compensation for the property owners involved, he said.
Similarly, public beach maintenance projects should respect the rights of property owners and not force them to bear the burden of the public benefit, Thompson said.
In the case of the California petitioners, the foundation argues that the Constitution bars the government from requiring property owners to allow trespassers on their land and that the California labor regulations violate that fundamental right.
The high court is expected to issue an opinion in the case before its current session ends at the end of June.