Some Ike victims may not be allowed to rebuild

[maddezmom]

GALVESTON, Texas — Hundreds of people whose beachfront homes were wrecked by Hurricane Ike may be barred from rebuilding under a little-noticed Texas law. And even those whose houses were spared could end up seeing them condemned by the state.

Now here's the saltwater in the wound: It could be a year before the state tells these homeowners what they may or may not do.

Worse, if these homeowners do lose their beachfront property, they may get nothing in compensation from the state.

The reason: A 1959 law known as the Texas Open Beaches Act. Under the law, the strip of beach between the average high-tide line and the average low-tide line is considered public property, and it is illegal to build anything there.

Over the years, the state has repeatedly invoked the law to seize houses in cases where a storm eroded a beach so badly that a home was suddenly sitting on public property. The aftermath of Ike could see the biggest such use of the law in Texas history.

"I don't like it one bit," said Phillip Curtis, 58, a Dallas contractor who owns two homes — a $350,000 vacation home and a $200,000 rental — on Galveston Island's Jamaica Beach. "I think the state should allow us to try to save the houses. I don't appreciate the state telling people, `Now it belongs to us.' It breaks your heart."

more:http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/6009889.html

[WolverineDG]

1. Yup yup yup

Keep our beaches open. I can't find much sympathy for someone who's blown half a mil on beachfront property.

dg

[Lisa0825]

2. And other than those who bought/built before 1959, all knew about this law

when they chose to buy/build there. They knew the risk, and they took it.

[tammywammy]

3. Agreed

[WolverineDG]

4. The ones who built/bought prior to 1959

probably didn't blow half a mil on their beachfront property though. Probably built on stilts or low to the ground cement block one story structures, all furnished with second or third hand furniture, something that was easy & cheap to replace. My mom grew up in Corpus & she insisted that only the very rich or the very poor bought beachfront property---the rich because they could afford to rebuild & the poor because they couldn't afford to build anywhere else. Nowadays, our priorities are different---beachfront property is very expensive, while property on higher ground, sheltered from the coast, is cheaper.

dg