Neighbor is Trespassing on Our Beach

Hi! We live on low bank waterfront in Washington State. Our neighbor continues to cross in front of our house on the beach with his quad. We haveasked them to stop, told them to stop, called the sheriff and now are being told there is nothing we can do to stop them. Nothing they are told by us can or is enforcable. Please advise. Thanks.

Is the beach on the ocean, a lake, or a stream?

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Quoting mfenton87

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Hi! We live on low bank waterfront in Washington State. Our neighbor continues to cross in front of our house on the beach with his quad. We haveasked them to stop, told them to stop, called the sheriff and now are being told there is nothing we can do to stop them. Nothing they are told by us can or is enforcable. Please advise. Thanks.

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We live on Harstine - water in front is Puget Sound. Thanks.

does he drive above or below the high water mark? Is this area used by any others? How long has this person, or any other been traversing this area? Does this pathway allow access to any specific area?

Anything below the high watermark is public property. Unless the city/county has an ordinance about riding ATVs on the beach or on public property, they should be free to ride. Research you local ordinances you may find another ordinance to apply.

What does your deed show? Does your boundary end at the high watermark?

Our deed shows that we own to minus 10' of the low tide mark. The high tide mark is pretty high - he rides below it. We have shellfish growing but it does not appear that they are being damaged from where he is riding.

Nobody else accesses the beach in front of our home except us. We have lived here 5 years. During the first year he tried to take our property citing adverse possession - he had bee riding on the beach for the past 10 years, etc. Long story short - he lost in court. Whie he has repeatedly been told to stay off - he continues to thumb his nose at all authority.

The area in front of our house continues around the island. There are private beaches all the way along the island.

It is Puget Sound

A slippery slope between state and federal riparian statutes along a coastline. You may want to speak to an attorney. How about a fence? Or video taping the trespassing and filing a complaint or getting a no-contact order from the court. All of which should be asked of your attorney. Does the ATV damage your property?

I found this interesting article: http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/xml/servi...CAppendixK.pdf

boy have you got some inconsistent rules and laws regarding this in Washington

I can find no clear answer as to whether you can control the tidelands or not. I did find that it is possible to own the tidelands, contrary to mudpies statement. In most states, a private entity cannot own the tidelands but Washington appears to be unique in their situation.

Now, since you can own the tidelands, and I will assume you do in this case, then comes the situation of the "Public Trust Doctrine". That states that while you may own the land, you cannot prevent the public from accessing it.

Where I come to a problem is; the PTD does not appear to be well understood or evenly applied. Some sites state the PTD allows the public to access the tidelands while other sites state you can control the tidelands if you own them. Very inconsistent info.

I belive you would be best served speaking with an attorney that deals with this specific type of situation for an accurate answer.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Wow! We have a seperate deed for the tidelands so ownership of them is not a question. It just seems crazy to think that you can own property and not be allowed to kep people off it. As far as damaging the beach he is driving over - who knows. Lots of little critters are all over down there. We have told him to feel free to walk across whenever he likes. Its not that we want to be bad neighbors, we just don't want his quad on our beach...

Interesting article. Thanks!

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Our deed shows that we own to minus 10' of the low tide mark.

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This is probably controlling.

But do we take this as 10' above the low tide mark or ten feet above it?

And is it the absolute low tide mark of the season, or is it the average low tide mark?

I would recommend that you get a title search done on your property. The original grant and the timing of it will be important. Washington has, as jk has pointed out, a real mishmash of rules and regulations on this subject, which we are probably not going to get straightened out here anytime soon.

As jk says, a local real estate attorney is your best bet. Having been sued for adverse possession and winning, you may already have an attorney you trust.

Many of the confusing current rules do not apply to grants of rights which predated the rules.

Your deeded grant of the tidelands may fall into that category.

If you indeed have this grant, the location of it will be critical to keeping your neighbor and others off your property. For delineating that you will need a local surveyor who is well experienced in tidal work.

I wish I had a suggestion but my Washington friend who lived on Puget Sound water in Shelton passed away in 2007.

Good Luck!

Thanks everyone for your input!

stop back and let us know what you find out about the situation.