Rolling Easements (EPA 430R11001)

[Pages:20]Rolling Easements

This document may be downloaded from the Climate Ready Estuaries Web site at: water.type/oceb/cre/upload/rollingeasementsprimer.pdf

June 2011

ROLLING EASEMENTS

Author James G. Titus Peer Reviewers

Thomas T. Ankersen

Margaret E. Peloso

James F. O'Connell

Stakeholder Reviewers

Leslie Ratley-Beach

Janet Freedman

Amanda L. Babson

Sarah N. Deonarine

John Fergus

Ken Lindeman

Jennifer Pagach

Climate Ready Estuaries Program

Michael Craghan, Co-Lead

Jeremy Martinich, Co-Lead

DISCLAIMER

Any mention of a given option for responding to sea level rise does not constitute endorsement for implementing the option anywhere, much less in a particular location. This primer focuses on options for state and local government and the private sector. This document does not represent any regulatory policy of the United States Government, nor does it provide recommendations for regulatory action. Any legal discussion herein is provided solely for the purpose of helping readers understand the implications of rolling easements, and is not necessarily the position that the U.S. Government has taken or will take in any legal action. The discussion of tax laws in this report cannot be used to avoid tax penalties imposed on any taxpayer.

This document is not legal advice: Those interested in pursuing the options discussed should seek legal counsel. Coastal law is continually changing. Anyone interested in the implications of rolling easements in a specific state should research how the law has changed since the beginning of the year 2011. As this report went to press, courts and government officials in Texas were revising and refining how the rolling easement applies along the Gulf of Mexico coast.

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PREFACE

Rising sea level is inundating low-lying lands, eroding beaches, and exacerbating coastal flooding. In undeveloped areas, landowners have generally allowed wetlands, beaches, and barrier islands to adjust naturally to rising water levels, by migrating inland. In developed areas, by contrast, governments and landowners have usually attempted to hold back the sea by adding sand to eroding beaches or erecting dikes, seawalls, revetments, and other shore protection structures. Very little developed land has been given up to the rising sea--especially along estuaries where individual landowners can usually protect their own property without government assistance.

Coastal development continues, as new communities replace forests and farms, and large houses replace small seaside cottages. With few exceptions, the new residents believe that they (and their heirs) can own the land forever if they choose. But permanent coastal development might not be economically or environmentally feasible everywhere. Most scientists expect a warmer climate to cause the sea to rise more rapidly in the future. Defending coastal development from the rising sea would prevent wetlands from migrating inland, expose large numbers of people to the hazard of living below sea level, and often cost more than what the property being protected is worth.

This document presents an alternative vision, in which future development of some low-lying coastal lands is based on the premise that eventually the land must give way to the rising sea. We provide a primer on more than a dozen approaches for ensuring that wetlands and beaches can migrate inland, as people remove buildings, roads, and other structures from land as it becomes submerged. Collectively, these approaches are known as rolling easements.

The question about which--if any--of these approaches should be adopted is beyond the scope of this primer. We do not evaluate how much of the coast should be protected or how much of it should give way to the rising sea. Our objective is merely to provide a summary of the tools that could be adopted and their possible rationales, to help encourage a thorough consideration of the many available options for responding to rising sea level. We do not exclude possible approaches merely because they have not been tested or would require existing policies to change. We hope that this primer helps communities to consider the full range of options for anticipating the consequences of a rising sea.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Possible Responses to a Rising Sea................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Roadmap .........................................................................................................................................4

Notes and References ..........................................................................................................................11

2.0 What Can a Rolling Easement Accomplish? ............................................... 13

2.1 Preserve Beaches and Other Eroding Shores ............................................................................... 13

2.2 Preserve Access along the Shore .................................................................................................. 15

2.2.1 Existing Access along the Shore ............................................................................................ 15

2.2.2 Impact of Sea Level Rise on Access ...................................................................................... 19

2.2.3 How Rolling Easements Can Preserve Public Access along the Shore ................................23

2.3 Facilitate Landward Relocation of Roads and Other Infrastructure ...........................................24

2.4 Help Wetlands to Migrate Inland ................................................................................................26

2.5 Facilitate the Inland Migration of Barrier Islands....................................................................... 28

Notes and References .........................................................................................................................33

3.0 Legal Approaches for Creating a Rolling Easement ................................... 41

3.1 Regulation ..................................................................................................................................... 41

3.1.1 Rolling Easement Zoning and Other Local Regulations ....................................................... 41

3.1.2 State Coastal M a n a g e m e n t ................................................................................................46

3.2 Interests in Land .......................................................................................................................... 49

3.2.1 Easements, Conservation Easements, and Covenants .........................................................50

3.2.2 Defeasible Estates and Future Interests in Land .................................................................52

3.2.3 Ambulatory Boundaries ........................................................................................................58

3.2.4 Summary of Rolling Property Interests ................................................................................ 61

3.3 Combinations of Rolling Easements ............................................................................................62

3.4 Combination with Other Coastal Policies ....................................................................................65

3.4.1 Setbacks and Other Limits on Development ........................................................................65

3.4.2 Transferable Development Rights ........................................................................................67

3.4.3 State Management of Public Trust Lands to Facilitate Barrier Island Migration ...............68

3.4.4 Cluster Development ............................................................................................................. 72

Notes and References ......................................................................................................................... 75

4.0 Choosing the Approach: Is There Legal Authority? ...................................87

4.1 Regulatory Rolling Easements. ....................................................................................................87

4.1.1 Local Government ..................................................................................................................87

4.1.2 State Agencies ........................................................................................................................89

4.1.3 Constitutional Takings Questions .........................................................................................89

4.2 Interests in Land ......................................................................................................................... 90

4.2.1 Constitutional Takings Question .......................................................................................... 90

4.2.2 Does State Property Law Allow Creation of the Rolling Easement Needed? ..................... 90

4.2.3 Authority to Obtain a Rolling Easement ..............................................................................94

Notes and References .........................................................................................................................96

5.0 Advantages and Disadvantages of Rolling Easements ............................. 103

5.1 To the Community at Large ........................................................................................................ 103

5.1.1 If Shore Protection is Expected Otherwise .......................................................................... 103

5.1.2 If Retreat Will Occur with or without a Rolling Easement ................................................. 104

5.2 To Landowners ............................................................................................................................106

5.2.1 The Tax Advantages When Donated ...................................................................................106

5.2.2 When Sold at Fair Market Value .......................................................................................... 111

5.2.3 Exacted Rolling Easements .................................................................................................. 111

Notes and References ........................................................................................................................112

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6.0 Defining How It Will Work .......................................................................115

6.1 The Rolling Design Boundary: Which Resources and Rights Roll Inland? ............................... 115

6.2 Restrictions Imposed by the Rolling Easement .........................................................................123

Notes and References ....................................................................................................................... 127

7.0 Defining Where to Apply the Rolling Easement ....................................... 130

7.1 Defining Where Retreat is Preferable to Shore Protection .........................................................130

7.2 Defining Where Rolling Easements are Preferable to Other Measures for Ensuring a Retreat .......132

Notes and References ....................................................................................................................... 137

8.0 Managing the Rolling Easement .............................................................. 140

8.1 Inspection and Enforcement of Conservation Easements......................................................... 141

8.2 Attempts to Invalidate the Rolling Easement ............................................................................142

8.3 Rolling Easement Zoning and Other Regulatory Approaches ...................................................145

Notes and References .......................................................................................................................146

9.0 The Endgame: Managing the Transition .................................................. 150

9.1 When the Terms of the Rolling Easement Start to Affect Decisions by the Owner ................... 151

9.2 Actions Required or Encouraged by the Rolling Easement....................................................... 152

9.3 Financial Assistance for Relocation ...........................................................................................154

9.4 After the Land Is Submerged .....................................................................................................156

Notes and References .......................................................................................................................158

Glossary ........................................................................................................ 160

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