Transboundary Viewshed Changes Post-Hurricane

The impact of hurricanes on developed shorelines in Florida is a pressing issue that demands our immediate attention. Protected by hardening measures such as seawalls and groins, weather impacts constantly threaten these areas. The jurisdictional administrative and property ownership aspects of the developed shoreline make it unrealistic to consider whole-scale redevelopment. However, the sudden impacts of hurricanes on these shorelines necessitate considerations of changes and the development of the structure of the developed shoreline.

Given the dynamic nature (ongoing avulsion and accretion) of developed shorelines, the potential consequences of not addressing this issue are significant. The risk of redevelopment (e.g., hardening and retreat) is inevitable, and the implications are consequential regarding access. Both private and public use properties risk losing (or gaining) a view of the shoreline or water due to changes in land development and natural events, such as tropical storms, which can suddenly alter the shoreline and complicate property boundaries and land redevelopment. At least two key issues complicate this legal distinction over who holds the right to resources: 1) the dynamic processes leading to changes in the location or legal interpretation of the public-private boundary and 2) the geographic characteristics (including land use) of the amenity from private and public lands and the subsequent economic implications of these flows for resource users.