The General Land Office has identified the following goals
as a basis for managing and regulating human impacts on the beach/dune
system:
(1) to assist coastal citizens and local governments
in protecting public health and safety and in protecting, preserving,
restoring, and enhancing coastal natural resources including barrier
islands and peninsulas, mainland areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico,
and the floodplains, beaches, and dunes located there;
(2) to aid coastal landowners and local governments
in using beachfront property in a manner compatible with preserving
public and private property, protecting the public's right to benefit
from the protective and recreational functions of a healthy beach/dune
system, conserving the environment, conserving flora and fauna and
their habitat, ensuring public safety, and minimizing loss of life
and property due to inappropriate coastal development and the destruction
of protective coastal natural features;
(3) to foster mutual respect between public and private
property owners and to assist local governments in managing the Texas
coast so that the interests of both the public and private landowners
are protected;
(4) to promote dune protection and ensure that adverse
effects on dunes and dune vegetation are avoided whenever practicable.
If such adverse effects cannot be avoided and have been minimized,
every effort must be made to repair, restore, and rehabilitate existing
dunes and dune vegetation;
(5) to prevent the destruction and erosion of public
beaches and other coastal public resources, to encourage the use of
environmentally sound erosion response methods, and to discourage
those methods such as rigid shorefront structures which can have a
harmful impact on the environment and public and private property;
(6) to aid communities located on barrier islands,
peninsulas, and mainland areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico which
are extremely vulnerable to flooding and property damage due to violent
storms by working to reduce flood losses, by minimizing any waste
of public funds in the National Flood Insurance Program, and by ensuring
that the insurance remains available and affordable;
(7) to protect the public's right of access to, use
of, and enjoyment of the public beach and associated facilities and
services as established by state common law and statutes. The public
has vested property rights in Texas' public beaches, and free use
of and access to and from the beaches are guaranteed. The Open Beaches
Act requires local governments to preserve and enhance use of public
beaches and access between the beaches and public roads. If an access
point must be closed, then existing law requires it to be replaced
with equal or better access consistent with the appropriate local
dune protection and beach access plan. Whenever practicable, local
governments should enhance public beach use and access;
(8) to provide coordinated, consistent, responsive,
timely, and predictable governmental decision making and permitting
processes;
(9) to recognize that the beach/dune system contains
resources of statewide value and concern, which local governments
are in the best position to manage on a daily basis. This subchapter
is designed to provide local governments with the necessary tools
for effective coastal management and are regarded as a minimum standard;
local governments are encouraged to develop procedures that provide
greater protection for the beach/dune system;
(10) to educate the public about coastal issues such
as dune protection, beach access, erosion, and flood protection, and
to provide for public participation in the protection of the beach/dune
system and in the development and implementation of the Texas Coastal
Management Program; and
(11) to minimize public expenditure on damages caused
on public and private property, including the public beach, by erosion,
storms, and meteorological events.
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