Opinion of the Justices (Public Use of Coastal Beaches)
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
649 A.2d 604 (N.H. 1994)
Relevant factsFree
The legislature considered a bill recognizing intertidal lands as held in public trust while also creating a public recreational easement across privately owned dry sand beach areas, with proof that an area was a coastal beach serving as prima facie evidence of an easement, and the House sought an advisory opinion on the bill's constitutionality as a taking.
IssueFree
Whether a law that recognizes a public easement on traditionally accessible coastal beaches is a taking of private property that requires just compensation.