One Oregon homeowner is battling his state for the right to clear sand off his own property.
That’s right, blue state officials are so incompetent and such a hinderance to the average resident, it’s a problem if you want to ensure nature does not claim your home as its own.
On August 13, a man identifying himself of Joseph Niedermeyer of Cannon Beach, Oregon, made a lengthy post on social media platform X about troubles he’s encountering with his family home of over 50 years. Niedermeyer lives next to a beach, saying he’s always hired a team to clear the sand from his backyard that the wind blows on it. In 2025, he says that became a problem for Oregon’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“Last year, out of nowhere, the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department (OPRD) went over the head of our own city and denied us permission to keep doing it. Nothing about the sand changed; only the permission did. Overnight, cleaning the sand off our own property became illegal.”
Although Cannon Beach gave him permission – not that it should matter given this is his property – the state overrode that authority saying they had jurisdiction over the “ocean shore.”
Unelected state bureaucrats are destroying our family home of 50 years—making it illegal to do basic and necessary maintenance on our own property. And because of that, we are going to lose our house.
Yes, you read that right.
Let me explain from scratch, because it’s honestly… pic.twitter.com/9Dl69ylSY9
— Joseph Niedermeyer (@JNiedermey33251) August 13, 2026
Who do you support in this case: the state or the family?
He writes a judge sided with the state on the matter. “The state argued that THEY, not our local town, get the final say, and that letting us clear it is bad for the beach, despite not one local complaint in 50 years, plus 50 years of approval from the town. We argued the obvious: this is our property, our town approved it, and we’ve done it responsibly for half a century.
“In April, an administrative judge sided with the state. The simple, maddening reason we lost: a judge gave the state bureaucrats, not the local town, the benefit of the doubt.”
Niedermeyer says an appeal is in the works, but it takes time, and his home does not have it. “But here’s the trap: an appeal takes YEARS. Our house does not have years. The sand climbs higher every month—roughly 10 feet of sand has now buried our seawall, lower deck, and staircase. If this grinds through the courts at the state’s pace, we may ‘win’—but on a home that’s already gone.”
He includes a call to action, urging followers to write to Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek. “Two minutes from you actually matters. We want people to reach out to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek by name because OPRD answers to her; by law, it is appointed by the Governor and serves at her pleasure. She sits on top of the agency doing this and has the power to step in. She simply has to care—and enough public pressure gives her the reason.”
He also includes a link to Save Our Cannon Beach Home, a website where supports can donate to the cause or get involved other ways.
Notably, if Niedermeyer were to dig out the sand himself, he says it could be a $1,000 fine from the city, possible jail time, and $10,000 a day from the state. He adds, in a statement that will have readers irate, the state can also make them put the sand back.
This is government incompetence par excellence.
You cannot decide what to do on your property. You don’t want your house buried in sand? Too bad.
This situation is why millions of Americans loathe government and the unelected bureaucrats who enforce these policies.
It’s time to fire all of these people at the parks department.
But even more important than that, visit Niedermeyer’s website. We need to give this man support.
Such an egregious violation of property rights should outrage any freedom loving American.
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