[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 20-11354 ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 8:19-cv-01473-JSM-SPF SHAWN BUENDING, ROBERT DOHMEN, THOMAS BROWN, HARRY S. FIELDS, WENDY FIELDS, SHAWN MOORE, DAGMAR MOORE,

Plaintiffs - Appellees,

versus

TOWN OF REDINGTON BEACH, a Florida municipal corporation,

Defendant - Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________

(August 20, 2021) USCA11 Case: 20-11354 Date Filed: 08/20/2021 Page: 2 of 24

Before MARTIN, GRANT, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. MARTIN, Circuit Judge:

Florida is famous for its beaches. The Town of Redington Beach, located on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, is no exception. Shawn Buending, Robert Dohmen, Thomas Brown, Harry S. Fields, Wendy Fields, Shawn Moore, and Dagmar Moore (the “Property Owners”) own beachfront property in Redington Beach. They sued the Town after it passed an ordinance that granted the public certain access to the dry sand beaches.

This appeal requires us to decide whether the District Court properly granted summary judgment to the Property Owners on their claims that the ordinance violated Florida law and constituted an unlawful taking. It also requires us to decide whether the District Court erred in granting summary judgment to Ms. Fields, who argued the Town violated her First Amendment rights by removing her from the Town’s Board of Adjustment after she filed this lawsuit.

After careful consideration, and with the benefit of oral argument, we vacate and remand the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the Property Owners on their claims that the ordinance violated Florida law and constituted an unlawful taking. We also vacate and remand the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to Ms. Fields on the First Amendment retaliation claim.

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I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background The Town of Redington Beach is primarily a single-family residential community. With a population of about 1,500 people, the Town has a total area of 1.3 square miles, 0.4 square miles of which is land and 0.9 square miles is water. See U.S. Census Bureau, Redington Beach Town, Florida, https://www.census.gov; Redington Beach Map and Weather, http://www.redingtonbeachflorida.org/Redington_Beach_Map_Weather.html (last visited Aug. 20, 2021). Though the Town does not have tourist facilities or promote itself as a tourist destination, tourists do come, and stay at the Royal Orleans (a timeshare hotel) or in vacation rental units. The Town maintains over 20 parking spaces for visitors.

The Property Owners own beachfront property within the Town. Specifically, Shawn Buending and Robert Dohmen, through real estate agent (and fellow Plaintiff) Wendy Fields, bought their home in 2018 for $8.35 million Mr. Buending and Mr. Dohmen divide their time between their homes in Florida and Wisconsin. Thomas Brown, who also maintains a home in Michigan, purchased his property in the Town in 2017, with the house still being constructed at the time of the suit. Wendy and Harry Fields purchased their property in 2004 for $1.7

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million. Shawn and Dagmar Moore purc