It’s an unfortunate sign of the times during our current national emergency; Tourists are being turned back from the Florida Keys and even the Outer Banks of North Carolina has road blocks in place doing the same. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) reports that authorities in resort towns are taking extraordinary measures to protect their permanent residents from the Coronavirus, which has sometimes been at odds with property-owners seeking shelter from the pandemic. As an example, the WSJ says in Cape Cod, Massachusetts over 12k residents recently signed a petition asking authorities to turn back visitors and nonresident homeowners from the only two bridges that access the cape. “It’s a stay-at-home order for a reason,” said Beth Hickman of South Yarmouth, who started the petition, in a local talk-radio interview Thursday. “It’s not about going to your second home because it’s a vacation.” Indeed…
“The right to travel isn’t explicit in the Constitution, but judges have invoked it to strike down laws like those passed in California to stop migration during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, said Rick Su, a law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill. The rights are more limited in a time of emergency. It is unlikely that a court would have time to rule on any challenge since the situation is so fluid and fast-moving, he said.”
Click here to read the full story at Realtor.com.
Click here to read the full story at the Wall Street Journal.
UPDATE: Homeowners sue over restricted access to Outer Banks second homes due to coronavirus
