Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A descriptor for rights or property interests associated with land abutting the shore of an ocean, sea, or lake. Such rights typically include access to the water, use of the water for limited purposes, an unobstructed view, and receipt of accretions or relictions.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Recorded Dock Privilege Barred
The Coastal Museum owned land bordering a tidal inlet designated for public use. It recorded a document granting Warren a perpetual right to build and maintain a private dock across the museum's submerged land for his gallery's commercial shipments. Warren sold the gallery to Gina, who continued the dock use. The museum posted public-access signs and threatened removal. Gina sued for a declaration that she held an enforceable private servitude. The court held that the littoral access privilege fell outside servitude doctrine because littoral rights are governed by public-trust principles rather than private running interests.
Beachfront Boundary Dispute
Stop the Beach Renourishment challenged a state project that added sand to eroded beaches. The company claimed the addition deprived littoral owners of their property rights in future accretions. Florida law placed the mean high-water line as the boundary between private littoral property and state-owned submerged land. The owners asserted that the project eliminated their right to receive accretions without compensation. The Court analyzed whether the state action constituted a taking of the littoral owners' special rights to access, view, and accretions.
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Restatements
Course Outlines
Study Supplements
Dictionaries
Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, et al.560 U.S. 702 (2010)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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Does a recorded private agreement create an enforceable servitude when it grants a littoral access privilege across public-trust land?+
No. Rights determined by littoral doctrines are excluded from servitude status under the governing rule. A recorded document purporting to grant a perpetual private dock privilege therefore cannot convert public-trust or littoral rights into a running private interest enforceable between successive owners.
Supporting sources
How does the public-trust doctrine interact with claims that a plat created private shoreline access rights for subdivision lot owners?+
Public-trust and navigation limits operate as background public constraints rather than private servitudes. A recorded plat label such as Private Beach Access for Lot Owners may create a private easement only if it arises from private-law sources. The public-trust doctrine itself supplies no appurtenant easement to upland owners.
Supporting sources
Are groundwater or prior-appropriation rights capable of being recharacterized as mutual perpetual covenants that run with the land?+
No. Rights determined by ground-water or prior-appropriation doctrines fall outside the definition of servitudes. A recorded agreement declaring such rights to be appurtenant covenants therefore cannot bind successors as a servitude even when the purchaser had actual knowledge of the instrument.
Supporting sources
560 U.S. 702 (2010)Property
…that, contrary to the Act’s preservation of “ ‘all common-law riparian rights,’ ” the order had eliminated two of the Members’ littoral rights: (1) the right to receive accretions to their property; and (2) the right to have the contact of their property with the water remain intact. This, it believed, would be an unconstitutional…