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Plaintiffs Claim They Own Part of Goose Rocks Beach

November 02, 2009 - KENNEBUNKPORT -- Property owners at Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport are claiming in a lawsuit against the town that their properties extend to the low-water mark.

The complaint filed in York County Superior Court this week has implications for public use of the 2-mile-long beach.

The plaintiffs contend the town is violating their property rights by allowing the public to use beach areas that have always been privately owned. Town officials maintain that the entire length of the beach has long been public.

The property owners argue that only the middle stretch of the beach, owned by the town and the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, is public. They note that the town's comprehensive plan acknowledges portions are that are privately and publicly owned.

While the plaintiffs may have allowed others to use their properties, they aren't open to the public, according to the complaint. In recent years people have increasingly used their properties without permission.

"People are doing things like dragging their boats out and plopping them in front of our clients' houses," said Sidney "Pete" Thaxter, the lawyer for the owners of 22 properties. "Some people want to share the beach and don't mind, but don't want it to be abused."

Each side says it is trying to maintain the status quo.

"All the selectmen will protect the public right to use the whole beach like we have in the last several hundred years," said Allen Daggett, chairman of the selectmen. "The people have walked the beach, have sat on the beach, have recreated on the beach. There never has been a private versus public."

According to Town Attorney Amy Tchao, it's not just the entire length of the beach that is public, but also the width of the beach from the low-water mark to the dry sand above the high-tide mark.

Such assertions are troubling to Liener Temerlin, one of the plaintiffs, who called it "absolute PR malarkey."

Temerlin, a retiree who is a seasonal resident, said he doesn't mind people walking on his beach property but says the town is trying to make private property public.

For Robert Almeder, a pivotal point came last October, when the town sent a letter to neighbors who had posted a sign saying that the path through their property was reserved access to a private beach.

The letter from Town Manager Larry Mead said the attempt to restrict use of the beach was contrary to long-held traditions. Almeder, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the town wants the beach to be public to increase tourism.

Thaxter said that commercial interests want to benefit from a public beach. One example, he said, is Hidden Pond, a nearby high-end resort that drops guests off at the beach.

Christy Reid, Hidden Pond's general manager, said the beach is public but the resort wants to respect neighbors' peace and privacy.

"Anyone is allowed to use the beach, but we definitely like to work with our residents and keep the peace," she said. "I feel we can all share and we can do it peacefully."

Mead said that Goose Rocks has historically been a location for lodging establishments, and that Hidden Pond's presence doesn't represent much of a change. He said the town has limited parking at the beach as a way to prevent overcrowding.

"We want to see the beach continue the way it is, which is a family-oriented beach with limited numbers of people with limited parking," he said.

By ANN S. KIM, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, October 28, 2009


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