IF you’re heading off on holiday to Florida you might want to check out beforehand if the beaches you want to visit are actually open.
That’s because the Sunshine State could soon be closing a large number of its sandy stretches.
Coastal Living reports a new law coming into force on July 1 means that the owners of beaches will now have the power to shut them.
Bill HB 631 was passed in March and blocks local government from putting laws into place that force owners to allow continual public access to privately owned beaches.
Florida has 633 miles of beaches and 60 per cent of them are privately owned by hotels or condos.
There’s already a petition to repeal the new law with 30,000 signatures from locals as well as tourists in the United Kingdom and Spain.
In the past, the government has been able to automatically grant access to private beaches to the public through ordinances.
When the new laws come into force, they will have to petition to do this.
The Miami Herald reports that Florida real estate agent Alice Duncan called for the bill to be scrapped.
She said: “Our very livelihood depends on everyone having access to our greatest natural resource.
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