Hawaii attorneys said a U.S. Supreme Court decision about coastal lands in Florida strengthens beachfront property owners’ claims of shoreline areas that have slowly grown over the years.

While the court ruled Thursday that two Florida counties have the right to restore a sandy strip of formerly submerged land, it also recognized in principle the right of beachfront property owners to "accreted lands" that have slowly extended themselves.

The court said unlike on accreted lands, beach restoration on submerged lands constituted a sudden change that added land, similar to the effects of a hurricane.

The 8-0 decision against beachfront property owners acknowledged Florida’s ownership of submerged land and its development.

Hawaii attorneys said the decision appears to be consistent with the way state courts have ruled that submerged lands belong to the state.

But as important, the court helped to define the rights of beachfront property owners involving accreted lands, attorneys said.

"This case in Florida was helpful to us," said attorney Paul Alston.

Alston said the court’s decision in general supports the right of beachfront property owners to claim of lands that have slowly extended into the ocean through the years.

Alston’s clients won a class-action lawsuit at the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals this year against a 2003 state law that said accreted land that extended beyond a landowner’s recorded boundary belonged to the state.

Alston said the appeals court held that the law unconstitutionally took private property without compensation.