Letters to the Editor: Court should revisit beach access issue

(The original Letter to the Editor, published July 26, 2021, is available here at the Portland Press Herald’s web site.)

The greenheads are fading, native corn’s almost ready, the urge for fried clams is irresistible, and coastal beaches are in their full glory. Mainers anticipate this stretch of summer all year long.

But while innocently trying to enjoy our coastline, some cast uneasy glances at certain homes along the beach. This has been true since 1989 when Maine Supreme Court justices, the four who owned coastal waterfront property, overstepped judicial authority and issued an acutely flawed ruling. The three judges who did not own waterfront property disagreed. Since then, some (not all) waterfront property owners make a point of trying to kick people off beaches.

A legal correction is overdue. At www.OurBeaches.me you can read the lawsuit intended to rectify those judicial errors and re-establish law that Maine people own the beaches and inter-tidal lands. I gladly donated to the legal fund (I hope others join me), because without us those who filed suit could be seriously outgunned. Already, a group of California lawyers has rushed in to represent some very affluent waterfront property owners who don’t want to look at Maine families on “their” beach. If you don’t know about the lawsuit, investigate. Support it if you can. Our friends from away who love Maine beaches can also lend a hand!

I’ll enjoy any beach I please, thank you very much, but we all would much prefer that the law is corrected once and for all, thereby terminating the objectionable and totally unnecessary intimidation tactics of certain property owners.

Mark Robinson
Biddeford