Opinion ID: 2321422
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Property Rights in Maine's Coastal Lands

Text: [¶ 12] We begin by recognizing the foundational purpose for the public's rights to the intertidal zone: access to the ocean and tidal region. There can be no question that, pursuant to the original public trust doctrine, the public has a right to use the ocean itself, subject to certain governmental regulation. [7] See, e.g., Britton v. Dep't of Conservation (Britton I), 2009 ME 60, ¶¶ 2, 10 n. 5, 974 A.2d 303, 305, 307; Norton v. Town of Long Island, 2005 ME 109, ¶¶ 21, 32, 883 A.2d 889, 896, 899; see generally Andrews v. King, 124 Me. 361, 362-63, 129 A. 298, 298-99 (1925); see also Marshall v. Walker, 93 Me. 532, 536-37, 45 A. 497, 498 (1900), and cases cited therein. As was written long ago, It will not be disputed that the sea, which has been called the `Great highway of the world,' is common to all. Blundell v. Catterall, 106 Eng. Rep. 1190, 1194 (1821) (Opinion of Best, J.). [¶ 13] Just as the public's right to use the ocean is not completely unregulated, however, the public's access to the ocean is not unrestricted. Because each state's law, common and statutory, has developed independently, the rights of the public to reach the ocean differ from state to state. These rights of the public also vary in Maine depending on which of the three zones of property that lead into the ocean is being usedthe submerged land below the mean low-water mark; the wet sand of the intertidal zone, which is the shore and flats between the mean high-and low-water marks, but not exceeding 100 rods; and the dry upland sand. See Britton v. Donnell (Britton II), 2011 ME 16, ¶ 6, 12 A.3d 39, 42. [¶ 14] On either side of the intertidal zone, ownership and allowable uses of the land are relatively clear. The State of Maine owns the submerged land below the mean low-water mark and holds that land in trust for public uses. See id. ¶ 7, 12 A.3d at 42; Britton I, 2009 ME 60, ¶¶ 2, 10 n. 5, 974 A.2d at 305, 307; 12 M.R.S. § 1862(2)(A)(6) (2010); see also Norton, 2005 ME 109, ¶ 21, 883 A.2d at 896. The State has the authority to lease the submerged land, see Britton II, 2011 ME 16, ¶¶ 6-7, 12 A.3d at 42, thereby occasionally limiting the public's access to the covering waters, see 12 M.R.S. § 1862 (2010). [¶ 15] On the dry upland side, the upland owner holds the fee title to the property above the mean high-water mark. When oceanfront property includes dry sand, the upland owner, in Maine, owns the dry sand portion of the beach in fee, subject, of course, to any encumbrance. See Bell v. Town of Wells (Bell II), 557 A.2d 168, 170-73 (Me.1989). The public has no special rights to the land above mean high water. [¶ 16] Thus we reach the land at issue in this litigation: the intertidal zone, which is the land between the mean low-water mark and the mean high-water mark. Flaherty v. Muther, 2011 ME 32, ¶ 1 n. 2, 17 A.3d 640, 646. In Maine, the upland owner also owns this land in fee. [8] See Britton II, 2011 ME 16, ¶ 7, 12 A.3d at 42; see also Dunton v. Parker, 97 Me. 461, 467, 54 A. 1115, 1118 (1903). All intertidal lands, however, are subject to certain public trust rights that find their foundation in early English law, see Storer, 6 Mass. 435, 438 (1810), and often are said to have originally derived from Roman law, see Bell II, 557 A.2d at 181 n. 2 (Wathen, J., dissenting), and sources cited therein; see also Trio Algarvio, Inc. v. Comm'r of the Dep't of Envtl. Prot., 440 Mass. 94, 795 N.E.2d 1148, 1150-51 (2003).