Homeowners in California are claiming beaches as their private property in efforts to keep ‘half-naked, drunk strangers’ at bay.
The Russian River in western Sonoma County has become a hotspot for beach access disputes, as owners of riverfront property see the shore as belonging to them.
Extreme measures were said to have been taken, from private security and surveillance cameras to legal filings and bolt cutters, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Disputes over public beach access have already occurred across the Pacific Coast between homeowners and members of the public, and now riverfronts are experiencing the same squabbles.
The Russian River in western Sonoma County has become a hot spot for disputes over public beach access, as locals attempt to protect their land from rowdy tourists
‘The challenge is, sometimes there is a culture of lawlessness among visitors – we have so many reports of visitors urinating and defecating on private property, cutting gates with bolt cutters,’ said Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins
There were reports of visitors relieve themselves on private property and cutting gates with bolt cutters (pictured: stock image)
According to state and federal law, river beaches are public and, just like ocean beaches, subject to the ‘ordinary high-water mark’ determining the shoreline.
On ocean beaches, this determination can be fairly straightforward. The ‘ordinary high-water mark’ is the line on the shore established by changes in water levels, determining the boundary between what can be seen as public or private property, according to California State Lands Commission.
Riverfronts, however, don’t follow the same tidal rhythm as ocean beaches, which tend to experience predictable and fairly consistent high tides.
The high tides on riverfronts are less predictable and can change from year to year, making it almost impossible to determine the boundaries of where the tides stop, and private property begins.
The Russian River stretches 110 miles and is patroled by the nonprofit organization Russian Riverkeepers
Don McEnhill is executive director of the Russian Riverkeepers
‘If people just wouldn’t be jerks there would be so many fewer problems in the world,’ McEnhill said
The disputes also concern growing tourist numbers and the preservation of the area for local residents.
Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said that she had been disappointed by the amount of fights over the summer but said unruly visitors ‘bear their share of the blame,’ according to the Los Angeles Times.
She added: ‘We [the public] have the right to access river beaches up to the ordinary high-water mark. The challenge is, sometimes there is a culture of lawlessness among visitors – we have so many reports of visitors urinating and defecating on private property, cutting gates with bolt cutters.’
She also pointed out that homeowners have also gone too far in some cases and that the right to access public spaces is ‘being violated’.
Don McEnhill, who works with the nonprofit organization Russian Riverkeeper and patrols the 110-mile river in his canoe, has seen spots marked as private property.
He tells visitors to the beaches that they are in fact public, and any signs posted by owners are illegal attempts to privatize the area.
An area that McEnhill determined had been unlawfully cordoned off became the center of one of the first big disputes in the area.
The beach was acquired by the Hacienda Improvement Association in 1969, but county officials also noted that a large strip of the area was below the ordinary high-water mark and was therefore open to the public.
This summer, private security guards began patrolling the beach area paid for by the association, sparking complaints that public access was also being blocked.
Hopkins eventually warned the association that the beach near the water was public.
Busy summer times, overcrowded beaches, expensive parking rates, and the desire for a tranquil spot to relax on the water mean that the open spaces in front of local properties become that much more attractive to visitors.
‘There are people who go the river and leave their trash, relieve themselves on people’s property… We have laws against that. It’s really not okay to do on someone’s property,’ one homeowner told the Sonoma County Gazette.
Another described destruction over July 4, saying: ‘Something like three dozen vehicles drove, cut locks to vineyard gates, drove through people’s property, actually one gentleman near the river in Geyserville, two trucks drove right through his vegetable garden. That was the only way they could get to the river, and then went to the river. A lot of them camped out for multiple days, numerous large bonfires.’
Arguments ensued on Facebook groups, with both sides arguing over who was in the right.
One person, according to the Los Angeles Times, wrote on Facebook: ‘You buy a home on the river. It’s tranquil. And then come summer, loads of teenagers, partying. I do understand the homeowners are concerned with the trash and the partying. But this is the Russian River. This is something that all Californians are supposed to be able to enjoy.’
The boundaries of public and private land on beaches are determined by the ordinary high-water mark, which is measured using high-tide points
Busy summer times, overcrowded beaches, expensive parking rates, and the desire for a tranquil spot to relax on the water mean that open spaces in front of local properties become that much more attractive to potentially unwanted visitors
The privatization of public space has also led to legal disputes.
Vacation Beach was a spot where residents had access to a beach, on the south side of the river, for many years. The paths led directly from the road down to the beach, but several years ago, the owners of one property began putting in ‘no trespassing’ signs, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Some objecting residents occupied the beach often in protest, and eventually the dispute was handled by the California State Lands Commission.
Its determination was, at first, that the public had access rights. This changed after additional reviews to the preliminary surveys determined that the public, in fact, did not. The matter was resolved once a fence was put in place.
McEnhill avoided confrontation through most of his time patrolling the Russian River, and he believes that’s most likely due to his respectful treatment of the beaches.
‘If people just wouldn’t be jerks there would be so many fewer problems in the world,’ he said.
