NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 618

SENATE BILL 571

AN ACT TO CLARIFY THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN PRIVATE LAND AND TIDE WATERS OWNED BY THE STATE.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  The title of Chapter 77 of the General Statutes is rewritten to read "Rivers, Creeks, and Coastal Waters."

Sec. 2.  A new Article is added at the end of Chapter 77 to be numbered and to read as follows:

"Article 3.

"Lands Adjoining Coastal Waters.

"§ 77-15.  Seaward boundary of coastal lands. — (a) The seaward boundary of all property within the State of North Carolina, not owned by the State, which adjoins the ocean, is the mean high water mark. Provided, that this section shall not apply where title below the mean high water mark is or has been specifically granted by the State.

(b)        Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no agency shall issue any rule or regulation which adopts as the seaward boundary of privately owned property any line other than the mean high water mark. The mean high water mark also shall be used as the seaward boundary for determining the area of any property when such determination is necessary to the application of any rule or regulation issued by any agency.

(c)        For purposes of this Article, 'agency' means any part, branch, division, or instrumentality of the State; any county, municipality, or special district; or any commission, committee, council, or board established by the State, or by any county or municipality."

Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 21st day of May, 1979.