Dear Friend of Surfrider,
We’ve made it our goal to raise 30K before the end of 2013. With less than 5 days left, we really need your help.
We hope that as the year closes out, you’ll consider joining the Surfrider Foundation. 2014 may be just around the corner, but you can still make a difference by showing your support for our oceans, waves and beaches in 2013.
Here are 5 solid reasons to join the Surfrider Foundation before this year is over:
1. Protecting our oceans, waves and beaches matters to you.
Everyday, we’re working to keep your beach healthy, accessible and protected.
2. We’re the only coastal protection organization that is truly local and grassroots.
Currently, there are over 84 domestic Surfrider chapters and 13 regional staff members that areaddressing local issues on local beaches.
3. Your membership goes a long way.
For every dollar you give, 87 cents goes DIRECTLY to programs and campaigns.
4. We’re accountable to you.
We want you to know the larger impact of your support, so we track our effectiveness through our victories. Since we began tracking our victories in 2006, as of today, we’ve won 257 tangible victories for the coasts we all love.
5. Your membership is tax deductible.
Join by December 31st, and your membership donation will be fully tax-deductible for 2013.
There are so many reasons to join the Surfrider but the most important reason is quite simple: You love your beach and you want to protect it.
For our oceans, waves and beaches,
The Surfrider Foundation
Surfrider is made of coastal locals who distinguish themselves from others by their action and stewardship.
They do more than love the beach.
They protect the beach.
They keep it accessible and enjoyable for all.
Rob Nixon, of the leaders of this crew, pushed out an update on a "beach wall" fight this morning. I thought I'd pass the mic to him and ask him to share a few words.
Jim: Rob, I saw the news this AM on South Padre's recent win. Can you share what the fight was about in a few words?
Rob: A few words? That's hard for me - but here it is in a nutshell. A Property Owner wanted to develop his property that was already dangerously close to the public beach here on South Padre Island, Texas. He was able to round up like-minded members of our County Dune Protection Committee, whose name has become a comical oxymoron. The members of the County Dune Protection Committee helped the developer deceive our County Commissioners into approving a "fence with a foundation".
The end of this partnership was an illegal retaining wall's construction beginning in plain sight of those that e watching including our Chapter, the City of South Padre Island and State Officials. When it was evident that state coastal developmental codes and laws that bolster our Texas Open Beaches Act, protect the Texas Tax Payer against ill-advised development and protect the Public's right to access and use Texas' Beaches were being violated, the South Texas Chapter alerted the Texas General Land Office and immediately began supplying meeting and photographic information to them to help form a case for stopping and removing the wall.
J: So this concrete wall was put up on the beach without any approvals?
R: Not exactly. The County Commissioners Court did grant a permit for the "fence with a foundation". However, what they saw in their provided information was not accurate and was purposely made so by our Dune Protection Committee because this was one of the 1st developments on their beaches AND the Vice-Chair of the Committee was the Real Estate Broker for the Property Owner.
In Texas, and in the County Dune Protection Plan, it is mandated by law that there can be no development or retaining walls within 200 feet of the Line of Vegetation (the landward boundary of the Public Beach in Texas) and essentially 400' landward of the waterline. This mandate is there to protect both the public beach and the Property Owner as long as possible against our eroding shoreline. The mandate is also there to protect the Texas and Federal Tax Payer from picking up the bill in order to "save" these properties from the encroaching shoreline through beach fill projects. In this case, we are talking about a beach that is eroding at 10-12 feet a year (without a storm) in one of the poorest counties in Texas that was projected by the only funded study by the Texas General Land Office at costing the County Tax Payer $30-$70 million every five years for every five miles of beach if the county were to pursue this developmental plan. Through deceit and calculated lies, the County Dune Protection Committee still persuaded the Cameron County Commissioners Court to go along.
J: It sounds like the win not only gets the wall removed but the owner was also fined for the illegal action AND he has to establish the dunes back to their original state, Is that right?
R: Yes that is correct.
The ruling by a jury in Austin at a Travis County District Court mandated that the Developer pay $10,000 in dune destruction fines (if you add in the other violations not related to the beach, it reaches $419,000), $200,000 in reimbursement to the state of Texas for legal fees, he must tear out the illegal wall and footings and mitigate all damage done to the dunes as a result of the project.
It is important to recognize that this was a Jury made up of members that are 3 or more hours away from the Texas Coast and reside in a state that is under political control of the extreme right, the Tea Party and their extreme view of Property Rights. I think that is a huge testament to the Public Servants who prosecuted the case with facts. A lot of those facts, provided by Surfrider South Texas.
Everyday, we’re working to keep your beach healthy, accessible and protected.
2. We’re the only coastal protection organization that is truly local and grassroots.
Currently, there are over 84 domestic Surfrider chapters and 13 regional staff members that areaddressing local issues on local beaches.
3. Your membership goes a long way.
For every dollar you give, 87 cents goes DIRECTLY to programs and campaigns.
4. We’re accountable to you.
We want you to know the larger impact of your support, so we track our effectiveness through our victories. Since we began tracking our victories in 2006, as of today, we’ve won 257 tangible victories for the coasts we all love.
5. Your membership is tax deductible.
Join by December 31st, and your membership donation will be fully tax-deductible for 2013.
There are so many reasons to join the Surfrider but the most important reason is quite simple: You love your beach and you want to protect it.
For our oceans, waves and beaches,
The Surfrider Foundation
They do more than love the beach.
They protect the beach.
They keep it accessible and enjoyable for all.
Rob Nixon, of the leaders of this crew, pushed out an update on a "beach wall" fight this morning. I thought I'd pass the mic to him and ask him to share a few words.
Jim: Rob, I saw the news this AM on South Padre's recent win. Can you share what the fight was about in a few words?
Rob: A few words? That's hard for me - but here it is in a nutshell. A Property Owner wanted to develop his property that was already dangerously close to the public beach here on South Padre Island, Texas. He was able to round up like-minded members of our County Dune Protection Committee, whose name has become a comical oxymoron. The members of the County Dune Protection Committee helped the developer deceive our County Commissioners into approving a "fence with a foundation".
The end of this partnership was an illegal retaining wall's construction beginning in plain sight of those that e watching including our Chapter, the City of South Padre Island and State Officials. When it was evident that state coastal developmental codes and laws that bolster our Texas Open Beaches Act, protect the Texas Tax Payer against ill-advised development and protect the Public's right to access and use Texas' Beaches were being violated, the South Texas Chapter alerted the Texas General Land Office and immediately began supplying meeting and photographic information to them to help form a case for stopping and removing the wall.
J: So this concrete wall was put up on the beach without any approvals?
R: Not exactly. The County Commissioners Court did grant a permit for the "fence with a foundation". However, what they saw in their provided information was not accurate and was purposely made so by our Dune Protection Committee because this was one of the 1st developments on their beaches AND the Vice-Chair of the Committee was the Real Estate Broker for the Property Owner.
In Texas, and in the County Dune Protection Plan, it is mandated by law that there can be no development or retaining walls within 200 feet of the Line of Vegetation (the landward boundary of the Public Beach in Texas) and essentially 400' landward of the waterline. This mandate is there to protect both the public beach and the Property Owner as long as possible against our eroding shoreline. The mandate is also there to protect the Texas and Federal Tax Payer from picking up the bill in order to "save" these properties from the encroaching shoreline through beach fill projects. In this case, we are talking about a beach that is eroding at 10-12 feet a year (without a storm) in one of the poorest counties in Texas that was projected by the only funded study by the Texas General Land Office at costing the County Tax Payer $30-$70 million every five years for every five miles of beach if the county were to pursue this developmental plan. Through deceit and calculated lies, the County Dune Protection Committee still persuaded the Cameron County Commissioners Court to go along.
J: It sounds like the win not only gets the wall removed but the owner was also fined for the illegal action AND he has to establish the dunes back to their original state, Is that right?
R: Yes that is correct.
The ruling by a jury in Austin at a Travis County District Court mandated that the Developer pay $10,000 in dune destruction fines (if you add in the other violations not related to the beach, it reaches $419,000), $200,000 in reimbursement to the state of Texas for legal fees, he must tear out the illegal wall and footings and mitigate all damage done to the dunes as a result of the project.
It is important to recognize that this was a Jury made up of members that are 3 or more hours away from the Texas Coast and reside in a state that is under political control of the extreme right, the Tea Party and their extreme view of Property Rights. I think that is a huge testament to the Public Servants who prosecuted the case with facts. A lot of those facts, provided by Surfrider South Texas.
3 comments:
Surfers are stoned out whackos dude. They drink beer and smoke joints and have nothing better to do that dream of that next big wave....lol
It's time these surfers get a job dude! They take up a fight like save ISLA Blanca and then talk about it amongst themselves while they are passing the doobie dude......enough I say!...they should be made to take a drug test before complaining on anything...
Pinche gingos and their self-service projects. Join the bigger fight and help bring down the bigger wall. Come election day they ALL vote racist republican...
Great job by hard working people. They saved our beaches for public use (even though the above commenters are too stupid to know it) and we beach lovers are very thankful. Thank you for this news, JMON!
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