Private Property More Important Than Open Beaches, Texas Justices Rule

AUSTIN (AP) -- The Texas Supreme Court has issued a new ruling placing private property rights ahead of the state's Open Beaches Act.

The Texas court was ordered to rehear the case after a federal appeals court found fault with its first ruling. But the new ruling is essentially the same and says that if an act of nature erodes a beach, the landowner's right to the remaining property is not diminished by state law, even if it is now part of the beach.

The Open Beaches Act states that a beach up to the vegetation line is open to the public. But following Hurricane Rita, the beach in Galveston shrank and moved onto private property, prompting a lawsuit. The court ruling Friday gives ownership of the beach to the property owner.

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