About

The Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority was created by the Virginia General Assembly on April 7, 2002, and ratified by participating localities on June 13, 2003. The Public Access Authority recognizes that shorelines are high priority natural areas and that it is critical to set aside access sites for all types of recreational activities important to our economy and to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As a regional leader in addressing public access issues, the Authority understands the importance of public outreach and quality education as it relates to water access and strives to better inform the public on issues of public access. Its members are the Counties of Essex, Gloucester, King & Queen, King William, Mathews and Middlesex, and the Towns of Tappahannock, Urbanna and West Point.

In 1998 and prior, the 9 jurisdictions of the Middle Peninsula were the subject of ongoing litigation focusing on the public’s right to access the water via road endings managed by the Virginia Department of Transportation. One case in particular worked through the Virginia court systems and eventually rose to the Virginia State Supreme Court which placed Mathews County in the position of defending the public’s right to access to the water. Thousands and thousands of dollars was spent to litigate the public’s right for access to the water. Del. Harvey Morgan recognized litigation was not the preferred path for managing public access. A regional solution to a cross-jurisdictional problem was needed.