Fletcher Landing is Public

Fletcher Landing is a small public beach located on Bainbridge Island, Kitsap County, WA, USA.

In the mid 1980's, neighbors of Fletcher Landing (aka "the libertopians") erected a fence and claimed Fletcher Landing as private property. Kitsap County fought the libertopians in court and prevailed.

Inexplicably, the fence was allowed to remain while an appeal dragged out over the following 19 years.

Finally, the case was decided by the Washington state appeals court in July, 2005. As expected, the libertopians lost. Fletcher Landing, including the access road and the beach, is still decidedly public.

Yet: The fence remains. The gate is locked. And strangest of all, the City of Bainbridge Island is (unlawfully) prosecuting "trespassers" such as me. (Or so I'm told).

I have a lot of catching up to do before I can post in real time. In the interim, the most important fact is this (lengthy) ruling by the WA state appeals court, docket number 31816-4-II: courts.wa.gov