Beachgoers lined up along the Gulf of Mexico near Perdido Beach Access #2, on Monday. Many come from out-of-state, including one man who sat in the sand close to the water in front of La Riva condominium complex in an area that, until last year, had been private property.

La Riva’s condo association is one of six associations on Perdido Key involved in a lawsuit against Escambia County that is asking the court to determine if a 75-foot public easement on the beach in front of their property is, in fact, valid.

Escambia County implemented the 75-foot public easement, last year, after the original deeds to 64 beach front lots was discovered. The wording on the nearly 70-year-old public documents indicates the U.S. government, which originally owned the land before selling it, intended for those portions of Perdido Key beaches to remain open to the public. Prior to the discovery of the deeds, the public was barred from what some owners considered private beach property, which starts where the dry sand begins, and the public was restricted to the area around the water line. Attorney Robert Powell with Morehead Law Group is part of the team legal representing different condo owners with the six condo associations − La Riva III, Portico, Mirabella, Ocean Breeze, the Palms of Perdido, and Windemere. Powell said he’s confident the law is on their side. “While we understand there are different views on the subject, ultimately this comes down to these homeowners exercising their constitutional right to obtain a court ruling about the validity of the easement that was supposedly created in 1957, if these folks bargained for private beach ownership,” said Powell. “Florida law favors the marketability of title to real property, and it provides a vehicle to resolve disputes of this very nature that involve somewhat ancient claims or interests that are asserted in someone else's property, like this easement.”

Perdido Key beach property owners sue Escambia County over public easement.

Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, who represents Perdido Key, is determined to fight to keep the Gulf front easement open to the public. He believes private and public beachgoers can co-exist peacefully. He also said the private property owners are benefitting from the recent addition of lifeguards on Perdido Key and other amenities as a result of public tax dollars.

“I feel bad for them (condo owners),” said Bergosh. “They were duped. They were sold a bill of goods that they had exclusive private beach all the way to the sand. That’s not my fault. Blame that on whomever it was that sold them the property and duped them. I’m going to fight for the people. I'm going to keep that beach open, even if I have to go to the Supreme Court, as long as I'm in this office.”

The lawsuit comes as no surprise to longtime residents and property owners on Perdido Key, where public access to the beach remains an important issue. The condo owners bought their units with the expectation that it was a private beach, while some Escambia County residents believe public beach is limited.

“We're growing,” said Charles Krupnick, director of the Perdido Key Association board. “Beach access #4 was open just a a year or so ago, and the issue of public access to Perdido Key beaches is certainly one of importance to the area, but so is the respect of private property rights and exactly how the discovery or the rediscovery of that particular easement, how that's going to affect the property owners in that mile or so of land. We'll just have to see how it works out in court.”