A legal dispute in Atlantic Beach has arisen over oceanfront property and may present a public access issue for the town.
The Coastal Review reports James Anthony Bunn of Cape Carteret began filing quitclaim deeds for more than a dozen parcels of land that contain dunes and connect property owners to the beach.
Quitclaim deeds are commonly used when transferring property between family members, but last month, Dunn sent letters to adjacent property owners asking them to sign an agreement that would allow for continued access to the land.
All the deeds show sales of between zero and ten dollars.
Lawyers with the Town of Atlantic Beach say the conflict is a private property dispute, and so they cannot represent the homeowners, but the town is looking into whether the parcels in question could prevent public access issues.
