LEGAL 



TIDES 



26 AUTUMN 1999 



I 



T 



JLhe beach season is drawing to a 

 close. Kids are back in school, and fewer cars 

 packed with towels, sunscreen and plastic 

 toys trek to the coast every weekend. But for 

 the past few months, vacationers have 

 crowded North Carolina's miles of public 

 beaches. 



On Saturdays in July and August, the 

 roads to the Outer Banks are clogged with 

 traffic heading for the sandy shore. North 

 Carolina vehicles jostle with cars from Ohio, 

 New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania. For 

 many vacationers, this trip to the beach is a 

 summertime ritual, whether it takes hours of 

 driving or a quick walk across the street. The 

 wide, sandy beaches draw surfers, sunbathers 

 and fishers from across the state and around 

 the country, and they are open to everyone. 



Traditionally, North Carolina has 

 welcomed visitors to its shoreline. The 

 Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA), 

 which regulates coastal development, also 

 provides a beach and waterfront access grant 

 program for local governments. With funding 

 from CAMA, seaside towns can buy coastal 

 property and build public parking lots and 

 walkways over the dunes. Some communi- 

 ties also provide shower facilities and 

 dressing rooms. 



Such Southern hospitality has made 

 North Carolina's coast a hot summertime 

 destination. But can visitors take public 

 beach access for granted? Not necessarily, 

 says Walter Clark, coastal law and policy 

 specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant. The 

 rising demand for recreational shoreline 

 space is part of the problem. 



The right to cross the dunes and plant an 

 umbrella in the sand has its roots in Roman 

 law, which held the seashores to be publicly 

 owned. Later, English common law took up 

 the tradition, and the United States followed 

 suit. Some states, like Virginia and Delaware, 

 allow public use of the beach only below the 

 low-tide line, functionally removing the 

 entire beach from the public domain. Other 

 states, like Hawaii and Oregon, have 

 proclaimed the beach to be accessible to the 

 public up to the first line of vegetation, 

 usually at the edge of the dunes. 



Like many other states, North Carolina 

 holds its coastline in public trust to the high- 

 water line, which means that the wet-sand 



