Word: generality
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Island has been retreating at least since the late 1800s," wrote University of Texas Geologist Robert Morton in a 1975 report. "At many points, rates of erosion increased between 1960 and 1969, with parts of the island experiencing extreme erosion." Separate studies last year by the state's general land office and researchers at Texas A & M University confirmed the problem...
...last May the state attorney general's office "descended" on the town, as some locals put it, and began forcing developers to build farther back from the sea. Previously, buildings had been allowed as close as 200 ft. from the water. Now construction can take place only up to the line where natural vegetation meets the beach. This strict enforcement of the state's open beaches law has led to heated disputes over where the nebulous vegetation line actually lies. Says Lilljedahl: "It's been a state of chaos...
Former Mayor Austin, who is now a local real estate broker, describes what happened when he went with an assistant state attorney general to a site bought by a Canadian developer. "I was standing more than 200 ft. from the water. I thought this was the point we could start building. But this young fuzzy-cheeked assistant A.G. was way up in the dunes, maybe 30 ft. behind me. 'What the hell you doing up there?' I asked. He says, 'I'm looking for the vegetation line...
...developer was not allowed to build as close to the sea as he had planned. Most developers wish the state would simply decree a building line. But the attorney general's office insists that because the shoreline is eroding, it is impossible to establish a permanent line, and developers should be kept as far back from the water as the law dictates...
James Marston, 26, a lanky, soft-spoken Texas native who graduated from New York University Law School, is the "fuzzy-cheeked" nemesis assigned by the attorney general's office to South Padre Island. Says he: "The people who come here and buy land or condominium units don't really know what the apparent dangers are from erosion or hurricanes. Some developers are farsighted enough to protect both the general public and their buyers, but others seem only concerned with making a fast buck and getting...