Things and Ownership – Common, public and private things
Art. 449. Common things.. Common things may not be owned by anyone. They are such as the air and the high seas that may be freely used by everyone conformably with the use for which nature has intended them.
Art. 450. Public things are owned by the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as public persons. Public things that belong to the state are such as running waters, the waters and bottoms of natural navigable water bodies, the territorial sea, and the seashore. Public things that may belong to political subdivisions of the state are such as streets and public squares.
Art. 451. Seashore. Seashore is the space of land over which the waters of the sea spread in the highest tide during the winter season.
Art. 452. Public things and common things subject to public use. Public things and common things are subject to public use in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Everyone has the right to fish in the rivers, ports, roadsteads, and harbors, and the right to land on the seashore, to fish, to shelter himself, to moor ships, to dry nets, and the like, provided that he does not cause injury to the property of adjoining owners. The seashore within the limits of a municipality is subject to its police power, and the public use is governed by municipal ordinances and regulations.
Art. 453. Private things. Private things are owned by individuals, other private persons, and by the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as private persons.
Art. 454. Freedom of disposition by private persons. Owners of private things may freely dispose of them under modifications established by law.
Art. 455. Private things subject to public use. Private things may be subject to public use in accordance with law or by dedication.
Art. 456. Banks of navigable rivers or streams. The banks of navigable rivers or streams are private things that are subject to public use. The bank of a navigable river or stream is the land lying between the ordinary low and the ordinary high stage of the water. Nevertheless, when there is a levee in proximity to the water, established according to law, the levee shall form the bank.
Art. 457. Roads; public or private. A road may be either public or private. A public road is one that is subject to public use. The public may own the land on which the road is built or merely have the right to use it. A private road is one that is not subject to public use.
Art. 458. Works obstructing the public use. Works built without lawful permit on public things, including the sea, the seashore, and the bottom of natural navigable waters, or on the banks of navigable rivers, that obstruct the public use may be removed at the expense of the persons who built or own them at the instance of the public authorities, or of any person residing in the state. The owner of the works may not prevent their removal by alleging prescription or possession.
Art. 459. Building encroaching on public way. A building that merely encroaches on a public way without preventing its use, and which cannot be removed without causing substantial damage to its owner, shall be permitted to remain. If it is demolished from any cause, the owner shall be bound to restore to the public the part of the way upon which the building stood.
