Tahoe beaches can remain off-limits to public, court rules

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 | 12:31 p.m.

CARSON CITY — A general improvement district that purchased four beaches on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe in 1968 is not violating the U. S. Constitution in barring the public from the areas, a federal court has ruled.

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the petition of Frank Wright, who contends the ordinances of the Incline Village General Improvement District are invalid.

The appeals court, in a decision Tuesday written by Judge Milan D. Smith Jr., quoted a prior ruling that said, "The First Amendment does not guarantee access to property simply because it is owned or controlled by the government."

Smith wrote, "The government may limit the use of properties under its control to the uses to which the properties are lawfully dedicated."

The court also rejected a claim by Wright that the Constitution's equal protection clause was being violated.

The general improvement district purchased the four beaches by issuing bonds, and those residents in the boundary of the district were required to pay off the debt.

Wright lives at Lake Tahoe now, and his property is within the current boundaries of the improvement district. But he was not part of the 1968 boundaries. The improvement district has denied him access to the beach because he was not within its district in 1968 and has not paid off any of the debt.

The court said the beaches were not public thoroughfares, and that people must show identification to gain access.

"Only the owners of the 1968 property paid for the acquisition and improvement of the beaches, and the admission of the general public to the beaches would violate the restrictive covenant" that limits the use of the beaches to the 1968 property owners, said the court.