The plaintiffs in the Goose Rocks Beach suit seem to be in a severe legal state of mind. They say one can still walk on the beach. This is a bit of noblesse oblige on their part since whatever they say will prevail to the low tide mark. What if they opt to revoke even walking as an acceptable activity?

Down the line if this isn’t officially decided, they can just say it’s a private beach, keep out. I would like to see this worked out to the satisfaction of all but I don’t see how it will be unless the case does go to court. Otherwise we are at the whim of these plaintiffs. They’re trying to stack the deck in their favor. This is a strange way to try to control development at Goose Rocks. There is a town plan and planning board.

The beach is an asset to the town and one of the many reasons why people come here. This is a tourist town, like it or not, and all local businesses, shops, restaurants, markets, hotels, inns, rental properties are, directly or indirectly, dependent on it. Tourist dollars do trickle on down. So vote to come up with the money for legal fees Kennebunkport residents. It’s a small price to pay when you consider the size of the entire town budget.

The plaintiffs will just have to be additionally assessed tax on all property they claim is theirs. The alternative will be a bit like shooting ourselves in the foot. We will stand to lose part of the beach for ourselves and future generations and have a lesser tourist income stream. This does need to be settled once and for all. The beach is a natural resource to be shared by all.

Linda Boardman

Kennebunkport

To the editor:

My family has been enjoying unfettered use of the beach for nearly 70 years. My mother tells stories of having black shades on the cottage during World War II and children playing in the ashes left from the Great Fire of 1947; years spent playing volleyball games, building sand castles, collecting shells, reading books, taking long walks from one end to the other or simply staring out upon the vast beauty of the ocean.

Each summer, one of my brothers or I would race to the beach in order to be able to report “where the beach was.” What was the location of tidal pools and the length of the dry sand? Had the tide come all the way to the rocks? Was there beach grass?

As an adult, I chose to make Kennebunkport my year-round home and have walked that path with my son and spent hours enjoying the natural and idyllic beauty of Goose Rocks. What I didn’t imagine would be that someone would try to take that away from my parents, my brothers and me and my son.

Many people have enjoyed that beach over the years. In fact, it is why they come to visit our beautiful town and state. But these people don’t just spend their time on the beach, they spend their money here. What happens if that beach closes? Do families visit as often or at all? Do they shop in the stores? Do they eat in the restaurants? Do they buy lobsters? Do they pay the tolls on the highway? What happens to property values? What happens to the real estate market?

The implications of this lawsuit go far beyond use of the beach. Whether or not an individual has set foot on Goose Rocks, everyone has a vested interest in the outcome of this case.

I strongly urge all registered voters of the town to attend Town Meeting Saturday and vote “Yes” on Article 49.

Mary Costello

Kennebunkport

To the editor:

Last week I reread a book I first read some 30 years ago, “My love affair with the state of Maine” by Scotty Mackenzie.

It is the story of two women in their 20s who left New York Madison Avenue jobs and pooled their few resources to own and operate “The Colony,”  which was a grocery store with fresh meat and produce, gourmet canned goods and a breakfast, lunch and dinner restaurant and soda fountain, an adjacent 20-bed guest house and a structure attached to the store called the Casino, which housed a combination dance hall, bowling alley and movie theater. 

The two women, with the enthusiastic help of the locals, operated the business in 1946 and 1947. In September 1947, the Colony and much of Goose Rocks Beach was destroyed by fire that devastated parts of coastal Maine. 

In telling the story, Mackenzie paints a picture in which the locals, the many art students and the “summer people” interacted to form a community that was centered on the long stretch of beach that brought them together.

The grocery store and Casino are long gone, but the beach that was the center of the community more than 60 years ago is still the magnet that draws most of us to Goose Rocks.

The beach has never been the domain of a few. It has been and should always be the focal point of the community and we should cherish and protect it as a resource that we are privileged to share. Take the time to read Mackenzie’s book. The story and depictions of the people who lived and worked at Goose Rocks in the mid 1940s and the people who inhabited the beach in the summer season are not mythical. It was a community worth emulating today.

Richard Driver

Kennebunkport

To the editor:

Your neighbors who are plaintiffs in the Goose Rocks lawsuit have owned their beachfront properties for an average of 40 years and have always allowed you to enjoy the beach. We don’t intend to change the way the beach has been used for generations, because we all view it as a precious community asset.

But sharing the beach was always part of a friendly bargain – we shared the beach, and in exchange, the public was respectful of our property rights. The town’s Comprehensive Plan, which we all approved, has always recognized that this deal underpinned the “status quo.”

In October 2008, the town broke the bargain. In a letter from Larry Mead to one of the plaintiffs, the town suddenly made the surprising claim that the beach was not private and that for the first time the town was claiming public rights to the beach. So much for the “respect for private property rights” half of the deal.

The town disturbed the status quo at Goose Rocks and forced a lawsuit by making claims that are contrary to their own Comprehensive Plan and to the existing law in Maine. The lawsuit was the only option available to us to protect our property rights.

The town started this fight and it can end it. If the town permanently withdraws its claims to our property, we will gladly return to the peaceful status quo that prevailed for decades. Instead they are wasting town money illegally by acting contrary to the clear dictates of the Comprehensive Plan.

Janice Fleming

Kennebunkport

To the editor:

On June 12, Kennebunkport voters will vote on Article 49. Selectmen are asking voters to come up with $250,000 in order to continue litigation regarding the Goose Rocks Beach lawsuit. Voting “Yes” marks the beginning of what could turn out to be a long and costly process.

As a fellow Kennebunkport taxpayer, I question the wisdom of town leadership and its willingness to add to the tax burden for an issue that could be resolved with simple signage at public access points to the beach. More importantly, the town’s governing body is asking voters to consider a step that over time may impact property rights of all landowner’s in Kennebunkport and eventually throughout the state of Maine.

Voting “Yes” for Article 49 has the potential to put all legal deeds held by Kennebunkport tax payers at risk. I urge residents to vote “No.”

Mark Hastings

Wilton, N.H.

To the editor:

Please attend Town Meeting Saturday and join us in voting to keep all of Goose Rocks Beach open to everyone.

Last fall, 23 oceanfront homeowners filed a lawsuit against the town and all other unascertained individuals (that’s you and me) to bar or prevent anyone from accessing the sands for any purpose beyond fishing, fowling and navigation rights granted in the Colonial Ordinance of 1647.

The town has been forced to defend the public’s normal recreational use because these 23 homeowners have chosen to sue the town and all of us who use any part of the beach. Make no mistake, despite the oceanfront plaintiffs’ claims to the contrary, if they succeed, Goose Rocks will become a privately-owned beach with oceanfront owners controlling access and use.

If they win, each of us would need their permission to do anything on the grains of sand of the beach. Seems silly, doesn’t it? Imagine having to ask permission to sit, sunbathe, build sandcastles, walk, swim, surf, kayak, play baseball, picnic, toss a football or a Frisbee at the beach.

Our family has been coming to Goose Rocks for more than 80 years. We are one of the few families who have lived here year-round for more than 30 years. We were deeply saddened and dismayed by the filing of this lawsuit. We view it as an extreme and unnecessary measure by the group of 23 that, if it moves forward, will forever change the fabric and culture of the Goose Rocks community.

In a perfect world, the plaintiffs would withdraw their lawsuit and work cooperatively with their neighbors and town. Together, we can put this behind us.

We will be voting “Yes” on Article 49. We hope all residents of the town will do so also. It is the only way to keep the sands of Goose Rocks open to all who wish to enjoy it.

William, Joan Bill and Maria Junker

Kennebunkport

To the editor:

I hope that many will vote to fund the lawsuit to protect everyone’s right to spend time at Goose Rocks Beach. Sharing the financial burden of this lawsuit through our taxes is a small price to pay in order to enjoy all of the beach and be able to share it together.

The Kennebunkport Town Review newsletter clarified the demands of the property owners for me. They have made it clear that those of us without oceanfront property will not be allowed access to the beach, except for the conservation trust section. According to the review, the property owners have said the public would be allowed to walk the length of the beach, but paragraph 44 of their lawsuit would make trespassers of all who walk along the shorefront. It is said that the beach is two miles long – the trust’s section is 700 feet long – which amounts to only 6.6 percent of the full length. We just lost 93.4 percent of the beach.

Privatization and exclusion at many beaches has made it impossible for people of less affluence to enjoy a simple day at the beach, as we do at Goose Rocks. As a town that is obviously conservation-minded, conserving the beach should be a priority.

While walking on Monhegan Island one day, my husband and I came across an artist painting, suddenly disturbing her. We apologized for interrupting her solitude and she replied to us, “the beauty here belongs to all of us.” Let’s be willing to spend a little to save our beautiful beach for everyone to enjoy.

Roseann Ridings

Kennebunkport