Who are we?
The Ohio Lakefront Group is a non-profit organization of Lake Erie shoreline property owners and concerned citizens.
Our mission is to advocate for reasonable laws, regulations, and policies that properly balance the State’s public trust interest in the waters of Lake Erie with the private property rights of our members.
What do we offer?
Lakefront property owners play a crucial role as stewards of Lake Erie and its shoreline. We provide valuable insights and knowledge from those most invested in coastal management.
The Ohio Constitution protects property rights – including the riparian, littoral, and other property rights of lakefront property owners, and we continue our work to ensure the State of Ohio recognizes and upholds these rights.
How did we start?
The Ohio Lakefront Group was founded in 2000, after two of our founding members experienced problems with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. One was told that part of his house was on state property, ignoring his deed. The other was told that he needed to get a permit for a structure that had been in place for more than 80 years.
When it became clear that there was an impasse, structure started to form as more citizens came forward in an effort to resolve the problem. Eventually, a Board was formed, and the group attempted to resolve the disputes through administrative and legislative means. While we were attempting to resolve this through a policy process, a state law was amended - changing the statute of limitations for a case like ours. In May of 2004, we filed a lawsuit against the ODNR seeking a declaratory judgement on the boundary between public and private property.
The case was certified as a class action. After more than a decade, and two trips to the Appeals Court and two trips to the Ohio
Supreme Court, OLG was declared to be the “prevailing party.”
Eventually we negotiated a financial settlement with the ODNR for over $ 6 Million. The money was distributed to 1) lakefront property owners who submitted a valid claim, 2) property owners who submitted a valid claim for their submerged lands leases, 3) reimbursement of
OLG’s legal fees and 4) our attorneys.
We were not alone in the fight for our property rights. Numerous organizations at the local, state, and national levels filed amicus briefs in support of our case. These included: Southeastern Legal Foundation, Inc., Pacific Legal Foundation, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Association of Realtors, National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, Linwood Park Company, Save our Shoreline, Geauga Constitutional Council, 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, Ohio FOP Lodge 8 and Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, Ohio Attorneys General Betty Montgomery, Jim Petro, and Nancy Rogers, Montgomery Consulting Group, L.L.C., and the Willow Beach Club, Brookwood;-Cresthaven Beach Club, Inc.
After Legal Victory
Following our legal victory, the Ohio Lakefront Group has continued our efforts to work with the Ohio Coastal Management Program to ensure reasonable and constitutional regulations that not only protect our Constitutionally-guaranteed private property rights but also ensure that Lake Erie remains the jewel of Ohio for generations to come.