My constituents adamantly believe it is wrong for the "Big Brother" State to take their private property away from them unnecessarily. The battle being fought for beach landowner rights is the same fight timber and pasture landowners face in our district. We have a statewide official who wants to take private property from Texans and the Legislature said no.
Hurricane Ike devastated our Texas coast and did damage well into our district. None were affected to the extent of those on the Bolivar Peninsula. Hundreds of Texas families found their homes simply wiped off the map. My family was one of those and we do not lose our Constitutional Rights afforded to citizens when I pledge to uphold those rights for my constituents.
When session started, Commissioner Jerry Patterson's staff from the General Land Office (GLO) came to my office and provided me with their plan to delay construction permits on all property along miles of beach until the vegetation line grew back. His staff requested I lead and support their legislative agenda because I was directly impacted. In other words, it was proper for me to be a part of the program until I disagreed.
Communication with the GLO continued, and I learned their office has a "temporary vegetation line." I asked, "if people rebuilt using GLO's temporary line, would it honor all environmental concerns and accelerate recovery by up to two years?" The GLO said "yes." My question to the GLO became, "why make these devastated communities wait?"
By using the "temporary vegetation line", construction could resume that would not intrude onto the public beach and still comply with the Open Beaches Act. By using the current "temporary vegetation line", as the Legislature has recommended, houses that were too close to the beach water prior to the storm cannot be rebuilt. Thus by following this rule, no property owner can limit public access to the beaches or build too close to the water.
It has been insinuated that I am trying to build my family's house in the middle of the beach. I had to use binoculars to check on my daughters from my deck when they played along the water. Between our home and the water were dunes, cars parked along the dunes, three lanes of traffic, cars parked along the waterfront and enough sand for volleyball games, sunning, and castle-building; all this was used by the public not personal guests! By using the GLO's temporary line as the standard, it will not reduce public access to the beach at all.
Patterson has now admitted about 200 houses cannot rebuild now because of his desire to wait on the grass to grow. Imagine the economic impact 200 houses built in these devastated communities could bring! If each of these 200 houses were rebuilt, it would add about $250,000 per property to the tax roles, for a grand total of about 50 million dollars! This does not include the additional cost savings to the state by preventing the state's purchase of these properties and the continued costs the state would incur by providing the sole maintenance of this frontage properties. Before Ike, frontage property owners shared the responsibility of maintaining the dunes and vegetation because we knew the importance they play as the front line defense of our property and the peninsula.
The Legislature agreed that every legal option should be utilized to protect property owners. Because grass "may/may not" grow on a citizen's property over the next two years is an unjustified use of eminent domain laws that take private property.
The amendment by Rep. Hamilton, approved by the Legislature, was not a last minute "secret deal," as alleged. This language was approved months before the session's end by the majority of the House members who represent the Southeast Texas coast and in full cooperation with the Governor's staff. In the end, the decision was made to use the GLO's temporary line and start rebuilding now.
The fight with Commissioner Patterson is unfortunate. The citizens of District 9 have allowed me to serve them for over a decade. I would never betray that trust. I encourage all of my constituents to contact me if they have questions. This is a fight for private property rights, which is what I was elected to do.
Christian, R-Center, represents HD-9 in the Texas House of Representatives.
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