BAIRD R. TEWKSBURY, JR. AND GERALDINE E. TEWKSBURY, HIS WIFE, AND THE COVE RESTAURANT & MARINA, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANTS,
v.
CITY OF DEERFIELD BEACH, A FLORIDA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, AND ROBERT L. KESTER AND STEWART R. KESTER, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1999-09-17
No. 98-2673
WARNER, C.J., and KREEGER, JUDITH L., Associate Judge, concur.
763 So. 2d 1071 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1999) Caution
Cited by 12 cases

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Holding

The operation of an outdoor dining area on a dock extending over privately owned submerged land exceeds the scope of riparian or littoral rights.

Facts & Procedural History

Upland property owners sought to operate an outdoor dining area on a dock extending over submerged land owned by appellees. This dispute followed a pr…

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Topics
Littoral Rights Riparian Rights

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Opinion of the Court
STEVENSON, J.

STEVENSON, J.

The upland property owners, Geraldine E. and Baird R. Tewksbury, Jr. and The Cove Restaurant & Marina, Inc., appeal an order of the trial court finding that them operation of an outdoor dining area on a dock, stretching over and supported by the submerged land owned by the appellees,1 exceeds the scope of their riparian or littoral rights. We affirm.

Many of the details concerning the ongoing dispute between the parties to this appeal are set forth in this court’s prior opinion, see Kester v. Tewksbury, 701 So. 2d 443 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), and it is not necessary to restate those details here. Suffice it to say that, following the prior appeal, this case was remanded and the parties agreed that the issue to be resolved was whether the appellants could, pursuant to their riparian or littoral rights, use a portion of the dock extending over the Kesters’ submerged land for the operation of an outdoor dining area, despite the Kesters’ objection. In Florida, riparian rights include “(1) general use of the water adjacent to the property, (2) to wharf out to navigability, (3) to have access to navigable waters and (4) the right to accretions.” Belvedere Dev. Corp. v. Department of Transp., 476 So. 2d 649, 651 (Fla.1985); see also § 253.141(1), Fla. Stat. (1997)(“Riparian rights are those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters. They are rights of ingress, egress, boating, bathing, and fishing and such others as may be or have been defined by law.”). The restaurant’s operation of an outdoor dining area on the dock simply falls out side the scope of Florida’s narrowly defined riparian or littoral rights.

AFFIRMED.

WARNER, C.J., and KREEGER, JUDITH L., Associate Judge, concur. . The fact that this case concerns privately-owned submerged land as opposed to sovereign lands owned by the State of Florida makes it somewhat unique.

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  • 5F, LLC v. Dresing, 142 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)
    …ons. See Bd. of Comm’rs of Jupiter Inlet Dist. v. Thibadeau, 956 So. 2d 529, 534 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007); Shore Vill. Prop. Owners’ Ass’n, Inc. v. Fla. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot., 824 So. 2d 208, 211 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Tewksbury v. City of Deerfield Beach, 763 So. 2d 1071, 1071 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). As recently as 2008, the Florida Supreme Court had occasion to list the common law riparian rights and identified them as “(1) the right to have access to the water; (2) the right to reasonably use the water; (3) the righ…
  • Shore Vill. Prop. Owners' Ass'n, Inc. v. The State OF Fla. Dep't OF Env't Prot., 824 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
    …this record that the trial court’s finding was clearly erroneous. The final issue to address is whether riparian rights necessarily include the building of a dock. This court has already addressed this issue in Tewksbury v. City of Deerfield Beach, 763 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). “In Florida, riparian rights include ‘(1) general use of the water adjacent to the property, (2) to wharf out to navigability, (3) to have access to navigable waters and (4) the right to accretions.’ ” Id. at 1071 (quoting Belve…
  • BB Inlet Prop., LLC v. 920 N. Stanley P'rs, LLC, 293 So. 3d 538 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)

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