A North Carolina federal judge has upheld a critical public trust right to the ocean beach shoreline. 

North Carolina has traditionally recognized the oceanfront beach seaward of the last stable vegetation line as “public trust” property which cannot be owned or controlled by any private party. Since barrier island shorelines move naturally over time, this means that purchasers of oceanfront lots do so at the known risk of their property lines being changed by the forces of nature.

Under state law, a private structure destroyed or severely damaged by storms or other disasters on such a naturally moving shoreline cannot be reconstructed on the same location if that would place a private building too close to blocking the public beach.

However, there’s always someone who didn’t get the common-sense memo. In this case, a couple from Maryland sued the state Coastal Resources Commission for denying a permit to rebuild their vacation home dangerously close to the crashing surf at Nags Head. The decision may be appealed.

This was another example of an anti-environmental interest group — in this case, the Pacific Legal Foundation — seeking to use any legal means to undermine the protection of a public natural resource. That group’s attorneys, representing the Maryland couple, attempted to file the challenge in federal District Court because they knew North Carolina law was clearly already decided against their argument.

Fortunately, the judge saw through the pretense, and threw out the case on the ground it was a matter of state law. Todd Miller, director of the North Carolina Coastal Federation, said, “Having this case dismissed by the federal court is good news for all of us who love to go to the beaches. It allows the state to continue to enforce setback requirements for buildings along our oceanfront so that the public’s right to use the beach is protected for generations to come.”