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Massachusetts town grapples with sea rise after sand barrier fails
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2024
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I feel bad that these homeowners are basically facing a complete loss of their properties, but I'm more than a little miffed that they expect the state to save their homes because the beach next door is a "public beach." I'm pretty sure the public beach ends where their properties begin and the state has no duty to keep the ocean off their property.
I bet a sea wall or jetty of large boulders would help, but I imagine the residents would complain about the unsightly walls/boulders and want to have their cake and eat it too by proposing some ridiculously expensive or difficult solution funded by the taxpayers that only benefits the residents of these 15 homes. This one idea already cost $33k per home and lasted 3 days.
Massachusetts beach law is complicated due to dating back before the American revolution. Most states allow private ownership to the high water line, but Massachusetts allows private ownership all the way to the low water line. So it doesn't really make sense for the government to maintain their private property.
Now, if they want to cede the beach to the state, I think the state would be happy to build something more permanent. Hopefully also something that would improve the ecosystem.
Personally I think the state should take the beach and tell them to fuck off somewhere that's not going to be building houses in fragile ecosystems.
The state will not allow a seawall to be built.
For good reasons. Besides being a huge ongoing expense, they frequently end up amplifying the erosion, and would almost certainly degrade the public beaches adjacent to these houses.