![]() Most of the information has been obtained through the court’s legal process and speaking with John Thalaker and Steven Ivey, the surveyors, both experts in their fields, land homesteads, and state tidelands.ĥ. ![]() How did you come to find out this information? It’s been the more recent bad attitudes from visitors that have made the beach owners grumpy.Ĥ. Just don’t assume all beaches are public, and respect the owners that do pay property taxes on their water. You can ask permission or get directions from a property owner. Most public beach access is posted by the County. You can find out about homestead dates at the Orcas Island Historical Museum. How can someone figure out if a person’s beach property is accessible to the public or not? This acknowledgment of their presence is permission.ģ. To me personally, this is crazy so I go out and start a friendly conversation with visitors, finding out where they are from and their interests in our beach. Deer trails to your beach, if left unattended, can be the beginning of a public path. If you give unlimited access to your beach, even your neighbors, you are granting unconditional usage to the public. I am not happy how the courts have made case law the rules these days. What happens if a property owner allows even one person the right to walk on their beach at low tide? Now tidelands are only leased by the state.Ģ. If the property owner did not purchase these extreme low tidelands or were homesteaded after statehood, the tidelands still belong to the state and are public, if you can find public access to these waters across private property. Here in this instance, the extreme low tidelands are public unless the extreme low tidelands were also purchased from the state and are recorded in their deed. For a period of time you could purchase tidelands from the state, the area from ordinary high water out to the Balanced Meander line. Washington State surveyed their meander line along the mean low tide lines and refer to it as a Balanced Meander Line, for those homesteads after statehood, of course. The US government meander line was called the General Land Office meander line, an average line along the extreme low tide line. As for Washington State, the main factor is whether your property was homesteaded before statehood, November 11, 1889, and whether or not the description on your deed states that the outermost boundary is the meander line. On the West Coast, I believe Oregon and California have completely different rules. Judi, is it true that low-tide property is public? I asked Judi some questions so that we could all learn what she learned…ġ. I know that I’m always wondering what the correct thing to do is. During a joint book-signing event last Saturday at the Orcas Island Historical Museum, I happened to meet Judi Watson, who became very knowledgeable on this subject after having to deeply research these issues for her grandmother’s property, Terrill’s Beach. I bet a lot of people on the island wonder what is legal when it comes to walking along a beach here on Orcas Island. ![]()
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