To the editor:

It saddens me deeply to see a lawsuit involving the shorefront property owners at Goose Rocks Beach and the town of Kennebunkport. My personal feelings are the only ones who will gain anything will be the attorneys involved.
I was one of the original Plaintiffs in “The Moody Beach Case” (Bell vs. Town of Wells). The original costs estimates by our attorneys were between $25,000 and $30,000, although I sold my property prior to the final judgment, I was told the final costs were closer to $500,000 and that was 20 years ago.
Is this the best way for the town to spend taxpayer money when we are cutting school budgets to the bone?
Although I don’t know all the issues involved in the Goose Rocks Case, they must be somewhat similar and based on who owns the beach and thus who is responsible for what goes on there. As the number of motels and campgrounds grew in Wells there were increased demands on beach usage and visitors began being bused to Moody Beach, which had no public facilities and limited parking. There were also discussions about taking vacant lots by eminent domain to create additional parking.
Moody Beach shorefront owners were extremely frustrated by the lack of regulation and enforcement of basic property rights and refusal by the town to address their concerns. With the exception of a very few people, no one was trying to keep people from using the beach. They felt the only solution was to establish who actually owned the “beach.”
The Maine Supreme Court ultimately ruled that owners whose deeds read “to the Atlantic Ocean” did in fact own to the low water mark and the only rights the public had were to fish, fowl and navigate.
Goose Rocks Beach is a hidden gem and I personally would hate to see it evolve into an overcrowded, wall-to-wall people kind of beach. There have been a number of times during hot summer weekends that I could not find a place to park and thus was unable to enjoy the beach in my own town. I would rather have to endure that inconvenience than step over thousands of sunbathers to find a patch on unused sand. My guess is that most people in Kennebunkport feel the same.
I think we’ve all been to beautiful places that were ultimately spoiled by over use.
My wish is that the town would acknowledge the shorefront property owners rights, allow them to post signs stating the beach is privately owned and to please respect it and obey the wishes of the individual owners. There may be a few people who will not permit visitors on their property by I think they will be very few and in the long run the beach will be better protected.

Bill Case
Kennebunkport