Dean Mead’s Lee Dobbins Quoted in Knowhere News’ “Some waterfront property owners could be at risk of losing water access”

In an article published on May 11 in Knowhere News, Lee Dobbins provides insight on an ongoing Broward County lawsuit and potential long-term impacts for some Treasure Coast waterfront property owners.

In December 2020, a Broward County court found that a company called Hillsboro Inlet Investments owned and controlled a parcel of land running behind a number of homes long the Hillsboro Inlet. Because this parcel fell between the inlet and the homes’ property lines, Hillsboro Inlet Investments controlled access to the waterway and the riparian rights, rather than the homeowners.

The company subsequently informed two dozen homeowners their docks and boat lifts intruded on its property, however access to docks and the waterway were available for purchase at $150,000 per home.

According to Dobbins, short of a legislative fix, there may not be a way to resolve the problem once someone else has taken title to land between a homeowner’s property and a waterway.

“People don’t realize that in some cases private parties can own submerged lands, not all are owned by the state. Dry land dug out to create waterways can still be in private hands,” he states.

For the full article, you may click here.