EDITOR'S NOTE: In the original version of this story, Robert Almeder's name was misspelled and the Save-our-beaches web site address was misidentified. They have been corrected in this version.

By Suzanne Hodgson

Staff Writer

More than100 people spent Saturday at the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust to support public access at Goose Rocks Beach.

Save Our Beaches, which organized the meeting, is fighting a lawsuit filed last October by 27 homeowners who live along two miles of Goose Rocks Beach and believe parts of the beach should be recognized as private property.

Kennebunkport filed a counterclaim Nov. 26, 2009, and claims it has documentation dating to the late 1600s that the beach is open to the public.

Group members and other participants at the meeting discussed the history of the beach, the “wet sand-dry sand” debate and the possibility of lengthy litigation between the town of Kennebunkport and homeowners.

Save Our Beaches member Mic Harris said the 27 homeowners claim any “dry sand” between their homes and the water is their property. Robert Almeder, a homeowner who joined the suit, disputes that characterization and says homeowners are attempting to reaffirm the low-watermark rule.

Almeder said homeowners are asking  courts to decide what they believe their deeds cover: property to the furthest point during low tide, 550 feet from the high tide to the ocean or at some average between.

“Their number-one target, the goal, is the dry sand; they said (they) won’t sue if you enforce no trespassing particularly on dry sand,” Harris said of the homeowners. “Our whole mantra is keeping the status quo, what we’ve done for the past 100 years.”

In January, The Post spoke with Goose Rocks Beach homeowner, Parker Dwelley, also involved in the lawsuit. At that time Dwelley said it wasn’t just the behavior of tourists and visitors that led to the suit, but other residents of Kennebunkport as well.

Kennebunkport Police Chief Joseph Bruni, who attended the Save Our Beaches meeting, spoke to the group about enforcing trespassing laws and rowdy behavior homeowners say they see on the beach during summer.

“I have heard accusation of rowdiness, but not to the extent that one may think lawsuits may be driven forward by rowdiness on the beach,” Bruni said Tuesday.

“When we’re given guidelines (for trespassing) we will enforce them, like we enforce any other law. Once this lawsuit is resolved, if we’re called in to handle a trespassing complaint on the beach, we will handle it with discretion, assess the situation and act accordingly. We’re not going to arrest children and take them to jail,” Bruni said.

Some meeting participants shared stories about their memories of Goose Rocks.According to Harris, Annabelle Ricci said she remembered walking with World War II soldiers on the Goose Rocks shore.

The Goose Rocks homeowners have submitted proposed signs to the town they want posted on any public access walkway to the beach. They read, “Public Way to the water,private beach on both sides of the public way. Inter-tidal areas on either side open for navigation and fishing only, no public facilities.”

Almeder said this is an example of signs homeowners are asking the town to post in addition to assurances from the town it will enforce trespassing on private property.

Other guests at Saturday’s meeting included Sean Sullivan, a representative of Northern New England Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Sullivan and his organization are bringing legal resources to help the town and the Save Our Beaches Group, which was formed after homeowners filed their suit last fall.

According to Harris, the Surfrider Foundation will bring prior experience and knowledge about keeping beaches open to town recreation.

Harris said the Save Our Beaches group and the town have tried to compromise with the homeowners, but to no avail.

“(Save Our Beaches) called for a conference and we agreed.  We gave them our conditions of signage and reasonable assurance of protection,” Almeder said. “We all tried.  It was fairly clear we had no common ground to go over more.”

Save Our Beaches will hold another meeting March 13.

The time and topic of discussions will be posted on www.save-our-beaches.org closer to the date of the meeting. A public meeting will be held in Kennebunkport June 12 to vote on using town funds to continue litigation.

StaffWriter Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.