Our Dive Club has been threatened with a Lawsuit under RICO

[Charlie99]

As for the impact on the locals, I tend to agree that we need to keep up relations. This was my first dive at Magnolia and I actually felt bad for the guy who owns a 2 miliion dollar house on the water and has 15 divers changing into their wetsuits almost in his back yard! But on the other hand, the guy doesn't own the water or the access to it. The owner actually approached me and politely told me that the land in front of his house was private property. I'm not sure if that's the case, but he was nice about it and I politely said that I would stick to the public area.

From this older post, it does sound like divers have been accessing the dive site through private property. A check with the city building inspector/planning department will show whether or not there are some publiclly owned access lanes to the dive site. A check of the property deed in question will show whether or not there are any public right of way easements.

As others have posted, any sort of criminal charges are very unlikely, and the RICO stuff is laughable. Most likely, the DA wouldn't even bother looking at it unless the owner goes to the hassle of going to court to get an injunction (against who??, though). OTOH, once the cops have been called out repeatedly, they may just get pissed off enough to ticket somebody with some minor offense.

 

[mstudley]

Looks like the Dive Mafia is setting up a new HQ at Magnolia Rocks... Thank god for RICO

 

[Charlie99]

Looks like the Dive Mafia is setting up a new HQ at Magnolia Rocks... Thank god for RICO

Beach access problems can generate some pretty interesting or funny confrontations.

A couple years ago the owner of a vacant lot about 1/8 mile from my house decided to assert his property rights on what had been treated as a public beach by many in the area, even though legally it was private property. There was one particular group of 20 to 30 individuals that were using his lot on a routine basis, so he called out the police. The police requested that this large group move over to a nearby, but tiny strip of public land. They did, but within a few days, they returned. I don't know if the owner actually finally had to get an injunction, but the police did threaten to ticket the group if they persisted in trespassing. The group finally chose another beach to frequent.

The whole set of incidents got a lot of play in the local newspaper because this group of 20 or 30 criminals were mostly TODDLERS from the local daycare.

 

[DiveGolfSki]

The "plantiff" will file charges the RICO statutes for conspiracy to commit criminal acts? :11: A bit of an over-reaction isn't it?

Somehow I can't see trespassing claims as being part of RICO but I'd suggest you check and see if there is some validity to their claim. If there isn't any, hit them with a nuisance suit, filing false reports and, while you're at it, a sexual harrassment suit, depraved indifference suit, a PETA claim and, last but not least, throw in a Homeland Security suit.

 

[MSilvia]

If there isn't any, hit them with a nuisance suit, filing false reports and, while you're at it, a sexual harrassment suit, depraved indifference suit, a PETA claim and, last but not least, throw in a Homeland Security suit.

It doesn't take a suit... just allegations.

 

[adshepard]

http://www.mass.gov/czm/shorelinepublicaccess.htm

http://www.ago.state.ma.us/filelibrary/beachacc.pdf

I own beach front property in Maine and have looked at the laws up there to see my property rights and to see what shore diving opportunities might involve elsewhere. Here is a summary of the laws there from the Seagrant Program at the U of M:

§ In general, private ownership of shoreline property in Maine extends to the mean low
water mark.

§ The dry sand area or rocky shore area above mean high water and adjacent uplands are
generally privately owned. The public has a right to use privately owned upland only if an
easement has been granted, such as with a public road or public path.

I do have a right of way on my property for my neighbor across the street.

I also use a public right of way to access a very nice dive site in Eastport. Another nice site requires me to ask permission from the homeowners who generally allow divers access.

§ Between the mean high water mark and the mean low water mark (intertidal lands),
public access is allowed for activities related to “fishing, fowling, and navigation.” This
does not include the right to use private intertidal lands for general recreational uses such
as strolling along the beach, sunbathing, picnicking, swimming, etc.

§ The lands seaward of mean low water (submerged lands) are owned by the state.
Generally, public use is not restricted on submerged lands, except in cases where a private
individual has a lease for an aquaculture facility, marina, or other use.

§ The public has a right to use state waters and submerged lands subject to state regulations.

§ A non-property owner may acquire an easement over private, unimproved, unposted
tideland under certain circumstances, for example if the non-owner’s use of the property
is long standing (20 years or more) or continuous with the actual or implied permission of
the property owner. This may become a legally enforceable right if sufficient time and
conditions support the non-owner user’s claim.


DSDO

Alan

 

[RonFrank]

RICO has teeth, and has been misused a LOT.

"The financial windfall available under RICO inspired the creativity of lawyers across the nation, and by the late 1980's, RICO was a (if not the most) commonly asserted claim in federal court. Everyone was trying to depict civil claims, such as common law fraud, product defect, and breach of contract as criminal wrongdoing, which would in turn enable the filing of a civil RICO action."

http://www.ricoact.com/

 

[Scuba_Dave]

I'm, not sure if our club dove there on the scheduled days - all depends upon the weather & waves. I did not hear of any further issues

I would think since we are lobstering that we were protected. I know we had a similar complaint at Salt Island when we dove - people walking across the rocks. One side is private - but they were not rude about it & we did as they asked

 

[lord1234]

i am going to have a law professor take a look at this, and see what he thinks. Give me a few days.

 

[adshepard]

http://www.appgeo.com/atlas/project_source/czmat/czmat_fr.html

DSDO

Alan