TEXAS LEGISLATURE GUTTING OPEN BEACHES ACT!

Right now, the Legislature is on the verge of passing a bill that will privatize a beach and set the stage to privatize many more.

HB 1603/ SB 740 privatizes a shoreline where generations of Texans have fished, San Luis Pass. The bill allows a subdivision to keep the public out. The same privatization could easily happen at Matagorda Beach, Corpus Christi, Galveston, or South Padre Island .

ACT NOW!
CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR AND GET THEM TO DEFEAT HB1603/SB740

Your calls can keep the beaches open for our children and grandchildren!

Corpus Christi Area residents please call:
Representative Vilma Luna 512/ 463-0484
Representative Gene Seamen 512/ 463-0672
Senator Juan Hinojosa 512/463-0120

If you live elsewhere, you can find out the name of your state representative or senator by going to www.Capitol.state.tx.us, click on “who represents me” on the left side of the page. You can also call the Legislative Reference Library at 512/ 463-1252 and they will tell you.

You can also write a quick letter to your senators and representatives at the address below.

Representatives PO Box 2910, Capitol Station, Austin Texas, 78768
Senators P.O. Box 12068Capitol Station, Austin, TX 78711

Please Write or Call Today to Keep Texas Beaches Open to Texans!

· The bill exempts the Treasure Island subdivison at San Luis Pass from the Texas Open Beaches Act.
· This area, San Luis Pass, has some of the best fishing in Texas. Families from all parts of the state have fished here for generations.
· The bill authorizes the construction of an artificial structure that would become the new boundary of the public’s right to use the beach
· There are no provisions in the bill to guarantee continued public access
· H.B. 1603 and S.B. 740 take 4,500 feet of beach that the courts have consistently upheld to be public beach and deliver it into the hands of a Municipal Utility District that has a long record of ignoring Open Beaches Act.
· The bill creates a precedent for other property owners (e.g., Surfside, Galveston, Corpus Christi, South Padre Island) to build illegal structures on the public beach.
· The bill is an endorsement for building illegal shore protection devices.

A Dangerous Precedent

H.B. 1603 and S.B. 740 creates a precedent for exempting beachfront homes from the public protections of the Texas Open Beaches Act. It will encourage beachfront property owners in other coastal communities to build illegal bulkheads or throw concrete and rocks on the public beach. If this bill passes, other homeowners have already stated they will come back next legislative session and lobby for the same kind of exemption being offered to Treasure Island by this bill.

This bill privatizes the shoreline and allows a subdivision to keep the public out. The same "privatization" could easily happen at Matagorda Beach, Corpus Christi, Galveston, or South Padre Island .

Allows the Use of Public Funds for Structures that Erode the Beach

"Beach protection structures" create a scouring effect that actually increases erosion of the public beach. Installing a limited barrier may prove to make erosion in the San Luis Pass area much worse..

A Matter of Integrity

The beachfront row of houses on Treasure Island have been in open violation of the Texas Open Beaches Act for years. These bills propose to exempt these home owners rather than enforce the law. The public loses while a few landowners receive a private beach.

The bills were filed for landowners but more people use the beach than own houses there. We need to make our voice heard. If the surfers, fishermen, and families that use the beach call their elected officials, the beaches will remain public. Otherwise, we could lose them forever.

Contact your state representative and state senator right now and tell him to keep the beaches open and oppose the following bills:

SB740/HB 1603- Privatizes one beach (treasure Island) and sets a precedent that other landowners want to follow to privatize their beaches.

SB 517/ HB 1117- Allows the use of Texas taxpayer money to fund hard structures (such as seawalls and protech tubes) on the public beaches. These structures accelerate erosion of the beach. The money is supposed to be for putting sand on the beach to make them bigger.

If you live in Brazoria County or know anybody in Brazoria County, it is critical that they call Rep Bonnen or Senator Janek and tell them they do not like SB 517/ HB 1603. Representative Bonnen's phone number is 512/463-0564 and Senator Janek's phone is 800/445-2365.

To find out who your represenative or Senator is go to www.capitol.state.tx.us or http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm. Find "who represents me and type in your address and zip code. Then call your state representive and state senator

NOTE- SB means senate bill while HB means house bill. Usually the bills have companions in the other house. In other words, SB 740 and HB 1603 are identical and either one could be voted on by either the house or the senate.

For more info visit www.surfrider.org/texas

There are two bills in the Texas legislature that grant a special
exemption from the Open Beaches Act to Treasure Island subdivision at
San Luis Pass. The subdivision Municipal Utility District and residents
have continually violated the OBA by prohibiting public parking in the
subdivision, giving them a private beach.

Visitors are met with signs stating "tenant and permit parking only -
all others will be towed" and "no vehicular beach access" at the
subdivision entrance.

They have also dumped rocks, concrete, and VW-sized boulders along the
shore in a vain attempt to stop erosion.

Their "engineering" has been ill-conceived, and much of it has left
dangerous debris on what is supposed to be public beach.
Beyond that, their actions have actually increased the erosion rate of
"their" beach. Experts agree that the "hard structures" they placed in
daily contact with waves increases the rate of erosion.

They have caused their own problem, they have violated the law and now
Rep. Dennis Bonnen and Sen. Kyle Janek want to give them a "get out of
jail free" card.

House Bill 1603 (HB1603) and Senate Bill 740 (SB74) make a special
exception to the Open Beaches Act for the subdivision.
The bills allow the illegal debris to remain where the public beach
once stood. Prohibited beach access, destroyed their own beach, dumped
rubble, and now they want to legitimize their disrespect for the public
beach.

As a rule surfers don't have much clout in Texas. However, the three
Surfrider Foundation chapters have worked hard to gain respect from
Austin officials. They do listen to us and often amend or even let
bills die when there is a groundswell of opposition. About 3 dozen bad
bills have not passed in recent years due to the hard work of Texas
Surfrider chapters.

We can beat these bills if you will make 4 quick phone calls to Austin.
It won't take 10 minutes.

Please call the House and Senate authors of the bills, and your own Rep
and Senator.
Tell them you:

"Oppose HB1603 & SB740. These bills reward people who have maintained
a private beach in open defiance of the Open Beaches Act. The beach
belongs to us all and these bills set a dangerous precedent by giving
away the first mile of Texas beach to a group of people who have no
respect for the law.

Rep. Dennis Bonnen
(512) 463-0564
(979) 848-1770

Sen. KYLE JANEK
(512) 463-0117
(713) 272-8929

For information to your own legislators go to
http://www.surfrider.org/texas/issues/2005-Leg/index.html
You'll see info and photos on the issue.
Scroll to the bottom and click on "Here's a link....."

This is easy. Please help. These guys are serious about taking away
your rights under the Open Beaches Act.

At Bonnen and Janek's office you will probably get a response that
these bills address "confusion....about the line of vegetation" and "it
moves". The only confusion is in the minds of people who refuse to
acknowledge that beach has been heading towards Austin for 25,000
years, and they built too close to an eroding shore.

Also pass this along to your friends, anyone, anywhere in Texas can
help. If legislators in El Paso and Texarkana have been told by their
constituents these bills are bad, they may oppose them too.

Thanks,
Ellis Pickett
Secretary/Spokesman
Surfrider Foundation Texas Chapter
www.surfrider.org/texas

PS - Spring Beach Cleanup April 23.