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ATTESTED:
·~t-~~~,—.._,~-/,-_I’-./~ )’ J-. 1).- TOF:RES Acting
_ Legislative ~ecretary
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TWELFTH GUAM LEGISLATURE 1973 (FIRST) Regular Session
, L
y~ TerritorIal Law Library –….1..4..1…San Ramon Rd.
‘ :Alrsna; Guam 96910
CERTIFICATION OF PASSAGE OF AN ACT TO THE GOVERNOR
This is to certify that Bill No. 38, "An add Chapter V-A to Title XIV of the Government Code of Gu~m to decl~re
as a territory recreational area government-owned land between the mean high watermark d~d privately-owned land, to protect and preserve public rights in the ocean shore and to authorize the reacquisition of such ocear. shore where a portion has been lost to private ownership and
no public rights exist therein as a result of dedication, prescription or otherYlise; to amend Public Law 10-71; . to amend Section 17203 of the Government Code of Guam; and to authorize an appropriation for the reacquisi~ion
,of ocean shore ", was on the 30th day of March, 1973, duly and regularly passed .. ~
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of I , 1973 at }D~~’5′ o’clock —!l… M. ,,
;h~S-A:~~-w:s-r~C~i~e~ ~Y-the-G/C’/~rno~ ~his- – -Ijth- -(
APPROVED:
CARLOS~~MACHO Governor of Guam
DATED: 4;:iz. ~ /~7.3’… 9’.39 .4. /J1. ‘
KEITH L. ANDR~S Attorney General :ol~G’u~
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Bill No. 38
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PRESERVE PUBLIC RIGIITS IN THE OCEAN SHORE GUAM:
A~D TO AUTHORIZE THE REACQUISITION OF SUCH OCEAN SHORE WHERE A PORTION HAS BEEN LOST’11 TO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP AND NO PUBLIC RIGHTS
EXIST THEREIN AS A RESULT OF DEDICATION,
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P~ESCRIPTIDN OR OTHERWISE; TO AMEND PUBLIC
LAW 10-71; TO AMEND SECTION 17203 OF THE
GOVERNMENT CODE OF GUAM; AND TO AUTHORIZE
AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE REACQUISITION OF OCEAN SHORE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE ~EOPLE OF THE TERRITORY OF
Section 1. Chapter V-A is hereby added to Title the Government Code of Guam to’read as follows:
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"CHAPTER V-A
,Ocean Shores: Territory Recreational Areas
Section 13450. Legislative findings. The Legislature .declares that:
TWELFTH GUAM LEGISLATURE 1973 (FIRST) Regular Session
AN ACT TO ADD CHAPTER V-A TO TITLE XIV.OF’ THE GOVERNMENT CODE OF GUAM TO DECLARE AS A TERRITORY RECREATIONAL AREA GOVEmiMENT- mINED LAND BETltlEENTHE MEAN HIGH vlATERMARK
AND PRIVATELY-OWNED LA~D, TO PROTECT " AND " XIV of
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(a) The traditional pattern of l~nd ownership of land abutting the beaches and ocean shores of Guam 1S
that a strip of dry land between the mean high w~ter- )
mark’as can be physically established from the latest
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t1ce elevat10n data publ1shed by the U. S. Coast and
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Geodetic Survey, and privately-owned land is owned by the government for general use of the inhabitants of
the island, being open and available to all users, both for recreational purposes and as a means of livelihood
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for thrownet fishermen;
(b) The shore side boundaries of privately-owned
real properties which were surveyed before Wo~~d War II
did not extend to the mean high w~termark, as can be
testified to respecting the privately-own~d land along
Agana Bay in the organized villages of Asan, Piti and Agat;
(c) Since World War II, an increasing amou~t of
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the government-owned land abounding the sea has been alienated and lost to private’ ownership;
(d) Although fee title to the ocean shore may have vested in private individuals, the Legislature recognizes that over the years the public ha.smade frequent anG uninterrupted use of such ocean shore and recognizes, further, that where such use has been’ legally sufficient to create rights or easements in the public through dedication, prescription, grant, or otherwise, that it
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the ocean shores of Guam creates a menace to the well-
being of the people of ‘the territory by increasing the
pollution of tidal waters, and such construction, in
addition, deprives the people’ 6f Guam of their right
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to untrammeled use of beach areas above the mean.
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is in the public interest to protect and preserve such public rights or easements· as a per!I1anentpart of Guam’s
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(e) The indiscriminate building of structures on
recreational resources;
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high watermark;
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(f) Such construction destroys the natural beauty of Guam’s ocean shores, ODe of the territory’s greatest natural resources; and
(g) Finally, in spite 6f the enactment of certain
laws and the adoption of numerous resolutions for the
protection and preservation of the beach areas of Guam,
the Executive Branch of the government, which Kas the
responsibility for enforcing these laws and implementing
the resolutions adopted, has failed t? adequately pre- serve and protect that strip of said land above the
mean high watermark which belongs to the people of
Gua.m.
Section 13451. Legislative Policy. The Legislature of Guam hereby declares as the public policy of the
territory of Guam that it is the public r~ght to have unrestricted access to the ocean shores of Guam for
common use by all the,people of Guam~ and therefore
that strip of public land above the high mean water- I’ mark must be preserved and protected for all generations
to assure free access t6 the be&ches of the territory
to the maximum extent, to preserve the natural beauty
of Guam’s beaches, and to alleviate the health problems, ~
caused by construction near tidal areas. It is, there-
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fore, the purpose of this Chapter to forever preserve and maintain the sovereignty of ~he territory heretofore lega11y existing over th~ ocean shore .of the territory
so that the public may have the free and uninterrupted
use thereof; to protect, settle and confirm the public rights to the use of the ocean shore heretofore acquired by public dedication, prescription, or otherwise. and
to authorize the reacqui~ition of the ocean shore where
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a portion thereof has been lost ~o private ownership and no public rights exist therein as a result of dedication, prescription, or otherwise.
Section 13452. Construction and interpretation. The Legislative findings and policy set forth in Sections 13450 and 13451 shall govern in the interpre- tation of any provision in this Chapter.
Section 13453. Definitions: ‘ocean shore’,
‘ter~itory recreational area’. As used in t0is Chapter, unless -thecontext requires otherwise-:
(1) ‘Ocean shore’ means the land between the mean low waterline and a series of lines connecting
_angle points located at a distance of twenty-five (25) feet in~and from the two (2) feet contour line
as established and described by the U. S. Coast
and Geodetic Survey. The angle points shall be
so selected as to secure maximum parallelism of the twenty-five (25) feet setback line with two (2) feet contour.
(2) ‘Territory recreational area’ means a land or water area, or combination thereof, under the juris- diction of the Department of Land Management, used
by the public fer recreational a d fishing purposes.
Section 13454. Ownership of Guam ocean shore .
Ownership of that part of the ocean shere of Guam
be-tween mean high tide and extpeme low tide, excepting
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such poptions as may have been disposed of by the territory prior to January 1, 1972, is vested in the
territory of Guam and is decl~~ed to be a tErritory recreational area.
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Section 13455. Vesting of public rights in Guam
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ocean shore. All public rights or easements in any
part of the ocean shore of Guam legally acquired through express dedication, implied dedication, prescription, grant, or otherwise are,confirmed and declared vested exclusively in the territory recreational area. No land subject to rights vested pursuant to this section shall, after
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the effective date 6f this Act, be registered pursuant
to the provisions of Article I, Chapter IV, Title IV, Part IV" Division Second of the Civil Code of Guam, unless the registration is in the name of the government of Guam or clearly sets forth the existence of rights in the government of Guam.
Section 13456. Acquisition of Guam ocean shore. The
Governor is hereby authorized and directed to acquire
ownership of or interests in any part of the ocean shore
of Guam where such lands are ‘held in private ownership;
provided, however, the Governor shall not acquire owner-
ship of or interests in any such ocean shore if it is
unregistered and~reqUent and uninterrupt~d use of the ocean shore by the public has been legally sufficient
to create rights and iasements in the pUbli~whic~ are confir~ed and vested pursuant to Section 13455 of this Chapter; and provided furthe~ that any interest in such ocean shore acquired by the Governo~ which is less than full ownership thereof shall be sufficient to permit the Department of Land Hanagement to administer the interest acquired as a territory recreational area. Such acq~isition from private owners ~hall either
be by condemnation, exchange, or negotiated purchase, except that the ‘price for such negotiated purchases shall
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not exceed th~ most recent appraised value of such
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property for real property taxes under Chapter IV,
Title XX, Government Code of Guam, and if by exchange
with government-owned property, only if the government-
owned property ~o be exchanged has been included in the
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of Guam.
Section 13457. Guam ocean shore not to be alienated:
judicial confirmation of public rights in ocean shore. No portion of the ocean shore of Guam or any interest therein vested by Sections 13454 and 13455 of this Chapter or hereafter acquired by the territory or Guam or any political subdivision thereof shall be alienated by any agencies, departments, commissions or corporations of the territory except as expressly provided by law; provided, however, the restriction on alienation shall
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not apply to a judicial sale of such land’resulting
from a condemnation action brought by the United States of America or to an exchange of said land made pursuant to Section 13525(c) of this Code. The Department of Land Management, when necessa.ry shall undertake appro- priate court proceedings t~ protect, settle and confirm:
all public rights and easements vested in the territory
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inventory of government land, or ~~endments thereto, provided under Section 13505.1 of the Government Code
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pursuant to Sections 13454 and 13455 of this Chapter. S~ction 13458. Title and rights of t~rritory un-
impaired. Nothing contained in this Chapter shall be
construed to relinquish, impair or limit the sovereign
title or rights of the territory of Guam in its shores
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as the same may exist before or after the effective
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date of this Chapter.
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Section l34~9. Liability of property owners of
ocean shore. The owner or.person in control of any property subject to a public easemen"t declared a
territory recreational area by Section 13455 of this
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Chapter or acquired as ocean shore for a territory recreational area pursuant to Section 13456 of this
Chapter shall not be liable for ~~y injury to _~other p~rson or damage to property 0f another resulting from
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a condition of the property vlithin.either area, unless the injury or d~~age results from a condition that he created and that he knew of or in the exercise of reason-
able care, should have known was likely to cause..i.njury to persons or damage to .property.
Section 13460. Landowner declaration of continuing control of land along ocean shore: effect: failure to file.
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(a) In any court proceedings involving prescrip-
tive rights of the puplic over unregistered property abutting, adjacent or contiguous to the ocean shore,
an instrument executed and filed as provided by Sub~ section (b) of this section sha)l be an act and declara-
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tion admissible as evidence of the intent of the owner
or person in control of property to exercise dominion and
control over his property.
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(b) The declaration shall describe the property and shall be signed and acknowledged. It shall state that ~he puhlic is granted permission to use the property, or a specifically described portion of the property, and that the public use nlaybe for certain purposes which shall also be aescribed. The declaration
shall be fiied in the pepartment of Land Manage~~nt. (c) Failure of the owner or person in control of
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property to execute and file the declaration as provided in Subsection (b) of this. section ‘shall not imply. an intent to relinquish dominion and control over his property. II
Section 2. Public Law 10-71, Tenth Guam Legislature, .l.S II hereby amended to "read as follo~olS:
IISection 1. Section 13405 is hereby arri.endld to the Government Code of Guam to read as follows:
‘Section 13405. Acquisition~of
Recreational Land. The Legislature finds that the acquisition of.land to provide recreational facilities fulfills a public purpose and is.~ necessary for the preservation ~f the health and welfare of the people of Guam. Accordingly, the Governor is authorized to set aside, if government owned; the following amount~ of land to be used to provide recreational facilities over the period 1966 thru 1985:
(1) 45 acres of beaches (6,650 lineal feet of beach);
(2) 879 picnic units (115 acres); (3) 922 6amp sites (185 acres);
(1,780 line-al feet).’
Provided, however, the Governor shall not acqulre under t}~eauthority granted by this section to acquire beaches and surfing beach land any’ocean s~ore (as defined in Section 13453(1) of this
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Dollars ($250,000) • .
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Code) if it is unregistered and frequent un- interrupted use of the ocean shore by the public
has been legally sufficient to create rights and easements in the public which ‘are confirmed and
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vested purs~ant to Section~3455 at this Code. Section 2. All costs of acqu~n shall be paid
out of the Land Acquisition Fund established b~Section 13978 of the Government Code of Guam.1f
Section 3. Subparagraph (b) of Section 17203 of the Government Code of Guam is hereby amended to read ‘as follows:
"eb) Along any beach in the territory of Guam,.no
building may be constructed within thirty-five feet (35′) .~
of th~ mean high watermark bounding said beach, nor may any building higher than twenty feet (20′) be constructed
within seventy-five feet (75’) of the said mean high wat8rmark, For the purpose of this section, the term,
‘beach’ does not include those areas where the shoreline I
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is a cliff or bluff higher than twenty-five feet (25′),
nor shall it include those areas where the shoreline is ‘bounded by village lots containing no more’ than a.
thousand (1000) square meters in those villages wherein residences have been constructed along the shoreline since prior to the Second World ~var, and the term
‘building’ included any'{tructure except a’~etaining Hall that cannot be seen."
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IIthe Land Acquisition Fund established by Section 13978 of the
I Government Code of Guam. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated from the Land Acquisiti?n Fund, as the initial
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Section 4. All costs of acquisition shall be paid out:of
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