Wilson v. Commonwealth

In January, 1987, a storm caused a breach in Nauset Beach off the coast of Chatham resulting, among other things, in the exposure of the coastline of portions of Chatham to higher tides and more destructive wave action than before the storm. Beginning in the fall of 1987, the plaintiffs and some of their Chatham neighbors, who owned property being eroded by the ocean, commenced law suits and administrative proceedings seeking permission to erect protective barriers to prevent the further erosion of their properties. On October 22, 1988, while the plaintiffs’ administrative appeal from the…