{"id":15428,"date":"2025-10-22T10:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T10:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/15428\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T10:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T10:30:08","slug":"st-pete-beach-private-property-sign-sparks-debate-about-how-much-of-a-beach-is-public-in-florida-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/15428\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete Beach \u2018private property\u2019 sign sparks debate about how much of a beach is public in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

The Undertow Bar in St. Pete Beach posted a sign marking their private property.<\/p>\n

Beach goers and online users are upset, saying the sign’s placement violates Florida law.<\/p>\n

A representative for the Undertow Bar said the bar had a survey done that was certified by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.<\/p>\n

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. – The Undertow Bar posted a signpost with seven signs on it laying stake on a significant portion of St. Pete Beach<\/a> as private property extending out from where the bar is located.<\/p>\n

The issue many have is the location of the sign. Experts said that Florida law states that the median high tide line determines what part of the beach is public. The sign is posted in wet sand, leading experts and beach-goers to question the validity of its placement.<\/p>\n

READ: Environmental groups call for change at Pinellas County’s decades-old waste-to-energy plant<\/a><\/p>\n

“When we come down to that water line and the water itself, that’s going to be public property and, under the [Florida] Constitution, they’ve got a right to go ahead and use that as citizens in that area,” said Charles Gallagher, an attorney with Gallagher & Associates Law Firm.<\/p>\n

The other side<\/p>\n

Still, through representation, the Undertow Bar said the signs are correctly placed, according to their survey. Timothy Webber, an attorney representing the Undertow Bar, sent the following statement to FOX 13:<\/p>\n

“The Undertow did have a survey performed of its boundary, including the mean high-water line which constitutes the western boundary of private property. \u00a0It was submitted to and approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. \u00a0The survey is posted on the signage. \u00a0The signs were set based on the survey. \u00a0There is no public beach access on Undertow\u2019s private property.”<\/p>\n

MORE: Bus lane on Pasadena Ave. in South Pasadena reopens to all traffic<\/a><\/p>\n

FOX 13 reached out to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection late Tuesday about the survey and have not heard back.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying<\/p>\n

The City of St. Pete Beach is aware of the issue. Five signs have already come down, and all that remains are the signs that say the area is private property and a map with the survey the bar did of the area.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They removed signs about banning pets, alcohol, coolers, chairs, tents, umbrellas. They also removed a sign that warned beach-goers that they could be subject to a search.<\/p>\n

“Our code enforcement team spoke with the owner, and we’re all striving for a solution to their challenges,” said Marc Portugal, the communications manager with the City of St. Pete Beach.<\/p>\n

READ: SunRunner celebrates its third anniversary of making Pinellas County roadways safer<\/a><\/p>\n

“The sign does show restrictive areas that go to the water line. I don’t think you’re going to have a court finding that,” Gallagher said. “I think you’re going to have a court possibly finding that the high end of that water line where it crests would be the most that they could claim.”<\/p>\n

But, lawyers wonder if this will go to the courts.<\/p>\n

“I think you’re going to have a court get involved here. I don’t think this is a scenario where the party’s going to resolve it on their own,” Gallagher said. “You have some entrenched sides on both sides, and I think this is a thing is set up for a lawsuit.”<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

The city is committed to finding a solution to this problem and plans to meet with the sheriff’s office on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“The city is looking to work with Undertow and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office to find a solution that allows everyone to have appropriate access to the beach,” Portugal said.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

Information in this story was gathered by Fox 13’s Danielle Zulkosky from attorneys and St. Pete Beach City Officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief The Undertow Bar in St. Pete Beach posted a sign marking their private property. Beach goers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[13350,13351,28,596,13353,202,2149,204,203,199,201,200,13354,13352],"class_list":{"0":"post-15428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-beach-goers","9":"tag-charles-gallagher","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-pinellas-county","12":"tag-private-property","13":"tag-st-pete","14":"tag-st-pete-beach","15":"tag-st-pete-headlines","16":"tag-st-pete-news","17":"tag-st-petersburg","18":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","19":"tag-st-petersburg-news","20":"tag-the-undertow","21":"tag-undertow-bar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}