V-156 



SECTION 3. PROBLEMS AND FAILURES 



Having briefly enumerated the management tools that local 

 governments could employ for rational estuarine development, 

 this section will evaluate the reasons why local governments' 

 failures in this area outweigh their successes, recognizing 

 at the same time that the record of the State and the Federal 

 Governments has also been disappointing. 



LEGAL PROBLEMS 



The confused legal situation is a direct cause of the failure 

 of local government in preventing uncontrolled growth in the 

 estuaries. Divided ownership, disputed titles, unresolved public- 

 use rights, and varying State, Federal, and local lav/s considerably 

 complicate the attempt to achieve planned land-water management. 



There is an urgent need for court clarification of such essential 

 questions as: The definition of tidelands and territorial 

 waters; can they be sold? What is the extent of public- 

 use rights in privately owned land? When are such rights 

 legally cut off or alienated? Which zoning regulations so 

 restrict the use of land by its private owners to the point 

 that these laws render the land essentially "useless" and amount 

 to uncompensated taking of property without due process, which 

 is unconstitutional? 



