NPR ran a story today about a lawsuit in Texas where the owners of some beachfront property have a problem with the State of Texas. Seems they bought a house 25 years ago and since then the beach shrunk or the water level rose or something, but the house is now on stilts and occasionally tide gets under it.
Enter the State of Texas which says by law that all beaches are public parks upon which it is illegal to have a building. The State has demanded the house be torn down because the park has moved under it. Lawsuits ensued and the relevant detail is that the homeowners have been prohibited from conducting any repair on the property during appeal.
The only argument that interests me is the Constitutional one. Under the Constitution, the government can take land but must pay a fair value for it. I've blogged on this before. The homeowners claim the State is taking their property without compensating them for it. The State says it is the Gulf of Mexico which is taking the land.
In essence the State is citing to riparian law (rivers; I forget the name for the law as applied to lakes) principles that when the water changes the contours of your land gradually, you simply lose land. Accretion.
In my humble opinion, the State loses. It is not Accretion that is requiring the home to be torn down before the land is fully gone; it is the law of the State of Texas. Likewise, the law of the State of Texas prohibits any repair. Thus the law of Texas is TAKING property rights before the Gulf does. Compensation is due. State loses.
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