Overview
- A three-judge panel led by Judge Barbara Lagoa, with Judges Andrew Brasher and Ed Carnes joining, reversed the district court’s ruling for the county.
- The opinion details deputies entering private sand, parking vehicles there, threatening arrest, and excluding owners from their own property.
- Walton County’s ordinance barred all access to private beachfront parcels from April 2 to April 30, 2020, even as other public places remained open.
- The court drew on the Supreme Court’s Cedar Point precedent to classify the shutdown as a per se physical appropriation rather than a mere use restriction.
- The case returns to the trial court to calculate just compensation for affected owners, while the appeals court left intact the dismissal of prospective claims.