Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell says an area Florida sheriff’s workplace isn’t doing sufficient to guard his multimillion-dollar beachfront property from trespassers and is asking a decide for an order commanding deputies to take action.
The petition filed final month by Littrell’s firm in a Florida Panhandle county touches on a perennial tug-of-war between usually-wealthy oceanfront property house owners and beach-loving members of the general public, particularly in Florida, which has 825 miles of sandy seashores.
Beneath Florida regulation, any sand on a seaside under the excessive tide water mark is public.
Many owners personal the sand right down to the typical high-water line, although some counties over the a long time have handed native ordinances that allow the general public use in any other case personal seashores for sunbathing, fishing and strolling if folks have traditionally had entry for these functions.
Property data present that Littrell’s firm bought the property in Santa Rosa Seaside in Walton County in 2023 for $3.8 million.
A spokeswoman for the Walton County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned Wednesday that the workplace doesn’t touch upon pending litigation.
“The Walton County Sheriff’s Office prides itself on handling every situation, call for service, or interaction with professionalism using a customer service approach,” public data officer Lindsey Darby mentioned in an electronic mail. “This has always been our philosophy and will remain so moving forward.”
Within the petition, Littrell’s firm mentioned that chairs, umbrellas and small tables had been put out on the seaside, in addition to “No Trespassing” indicators, to mark it as personal property.
However that effort had been in useless “as numerous trespassers have set out to antagonize, bully, and harass the Littrell family by regularly, every day, trespassing,” in line with the petition.
The sheriff’s workplace has refused requests to take away trespassers or cost them, and the household has needed to rent personal safety, the petition mentioned.
Walton County, which has turn into residence to a number of well-known property house owners in addition to Littrell over the previous 20 years, has been on the heart of a current struggle between personal property house owners and the general public over entry to seashores.
A 2018 Florida regulation that stemmed from a Walton County ordinance blocked any native authorities from passing ordinances coping with public seaside entry till affected householders have been notified, a public listening to was held and a courtroom had decided whether or not a personal seaside was traditionally open to the general public.
Florida lawmakers this yr authorized laws that restored management again to native authorities, and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into regulation final month in Santa Rosa Seaside, the seaside city the place Littrell’s home is situated.
