Sea Grant Legal Tides

Sea Grant of NC ~ Summer/Fall 2005: "Rights of Oceanfront Property Owners in the 21st Century: Part II
By Joseph Kalo and Walter Clark

In the the first issue of Legal Tides, we discussed the concepts of littoral (oceanfront) ownership and littoral rights, and how the seaward boundary of oceanfront property changes as the location of the mean high tide line changes due to the natural processes of erosion, accretion and avulsion.i In this issue, we will examine the legal effect of artificial additions to the shoreline. These additions occur when the beach is expanded and the shoreline is altered as the result of beach nourishment projects or other activities involving the deposit of sand."