Waterfront Property Owners: Riparian Rights vs. 牡蛎养殖公司

Riparian property rights are the reason that people pay extra to live “on the water”.   A previous article from June 2013 explains why riparian property rights command such great value.   The homes on Sandfiddler Road in Sandbridge, 维吉尼亚州, give a practical example that further proves the premium value that the market attaches to riparian property rights.  Up and down the five miles of Sandfiddler Road, the homes on the east side – the side facing the water – are priced 40% higher than comparable homes on the landlocked west side of the road.  “Off the bottom” oyster aquaculture, 如果不小心控制, interferes with riparian property rights and reduces the value of waterfront property. 

至少有 一项经济研究 显示, and 维吉尼亚州 oyster companies increasingly appear to believe, that the oyster companies can fatten their bottom line if they switch from “on the bottom” oyster aquaculture to the new “off the bottom” oyster growing equipment.  The Pangea Shellfish Company provides an excellent description of these various methods of oyster aquaculture.  The large corporate 维吉尼亚州 oyster companies have many applications pending at the 维吉尼亚州 Marine 澳门亚洲博彩平台排名 Commission (“VMRC”), to install industrial scale “off the bottom” oyster farming operations in 维吉尼亚州 waters, many of them similar in appearance to the one shown in the photo above (courtesy of Alf Manciagli/shutterstock.com).

九个月前, 在2017年8月的会议上, the VMRC granted approval to one large 维吉尼亚州 oyster company to install 20,000 baskets (each basket 2’ x 6’ x 1’), on a system of long lines supported by poles, 占地10英亩的瓦茨湾, Accomack县, over the objection of six nearby riparian landowners who claimed, 除此之外, that “our lovely waterfront view will be ruined with unsightly poles”.  This was the first large scale “off the bottom” aquaculture project to receive an approval in 维吉尼亚州 waters.  It is not known whether the riparian property owners protesting the Watts Bay project had assistance of an environmental attorney experienced in the protection of riparian property rights but what is known is that the VMRC voted unanimously to approve the Watts Bay project (8-0 vote).   In the nine months since receiving that approval, the large 维吉尼亚州 oyster company installed its baskets, poles and long lines across two of the ten acres of Watts Bay that are subject to the permit (with installation at the other eight acres anticipated to follow soon). 

在2018年5月的会议上, the second large industrial scale “off the bottom” oyster farming application in 维吉尼亚州 came before the VMRC for decision, but the result was the opposite of the result in the Watts Bay project.  The same large 维吉尼亚州 oyster company that received approval in August 2017 for its 10-acre Watts Bay project was back at the VMRC seeking approval for an even larger 12-acre project in the Rappahannock River, 由8个组成,928个帖子, 34,560个篮子, 和94年,521 feet of 11mm monofilament lines.  One riparian property owner coordinated the combined effort of a very large group of riparian property owners who decided to fight this industrial oyster farming project, 吉姆·朗的协助下, an environmental attorney experienced in the protection of riparian property rights, 和一个澳门亚洲博彩平台排名 & 亚洲博彩平台排名股东.  On May 22, 2018, following a lengthy hearing, the VMRC denied the permit application on a 5-2 vote. 

我们的 滨水法律小组 assists waterfront property owners throughout the Commonwealth of 维吉尼亚州 in protecting their riparian property rights.