Robert Winton: Take back the sand

Regarding the Aug. 27 news article “Emerald Isle lawsuit may define beach access”: The plaintiffs base their suit on “public ‘taking’... of their land” (sand).

All property owners in Emerald Isle, including the Nieses’ non-oceanfront neighbors, have paid and continue to pay extra taxes for beach re-nourishment as part of a collective “giving” of land to all beachfront property owners, starting well before 2007, when the Nieses bought their property in a gated community.

Perhaps the town government should render their case moot by simply rescinding the entire community’s gift to them and retrieving the sand put in front of their house, so the high tide mark could return to the base of the forward dune where it was in 2002.

Then they would only have to worry about ocean “taking,” which not even the Civitas Institute could sue.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Robert Winton: Take back the sand."