SARASOTA COUNTY – Is the beach public or private? Sarasota County Commissioners may weigh their thoughts on the issue.
“DO NOT TRESPASS” signs have popped up all over Suncoast beaches, and residents have flooded county commission inboxes worried that these signs are illegal or infringe on public beach access.
According to the Herald-Tribune, Commissioners Christian Ziegler and Alan Maio are on board with a county study of what’s allowed and not allowed on the 35 miles of Sarasota County beaches.
According to a 2014 beach access study, 80% of the county’s beaches is private.
Back in 2018, then Governor Rick Scott signed a bill that radically changed public beach access laws and gave more power to waterfront property owners. This meant that local governments couldn’t pass their own laws protecting public use of privately owned beaches.
The Florida Constitution does protect public access to any beach that regularly gets wet from a rising tide.