Citizens for Open Access to Sand and Tide, Inc. v. Seadrift Ass'n

The trial court sustained respondents’ demurrer to the present action for implied dedication of a public recreational easement and declaratory and injunctive relief without leave to amend. We conclude that appellant’s action is barred by a settlement incorporated into judgments entered in prior suits, and affirm the judgment.

Statement of Facts and Procedural History

Throughout this century a tide of controversy and litigation over the competing rights of private ownership and public access has swept over the sands of the Bolinas Sandspit, and more specifically a northwesterly part of it known as the Seadrift Sandspit. The matter now before us represents the latest wave of litigation to lap these shores.

In February of 1950, title to the Seadrift property between the ordinary high-water mark of the Pacific Ocean—known as the “Atherton Line”—and the low-water mark of the Bolinas Lagoon was quieted in the William Kent Estate Company, and soon thereafter development in the area commenced. Seadrift subsequently became a residential subdivision of over 300 parcels. Respondent Seadrift Association was organized as the fee title owner of beachfront property in the Seadrift…