WMTW-TV, Aug. 23
Battle over Moody Beach: Residents and visitors fight over beach access
WELLS, Maine — Moody Beach in Wells was deemed "private" after a court ruling in 1989, and residents and non-residents alike have been fighting over it ever since. Now, yet again, a new push to get the law overturned. David Giarusso has owned a beachfront property at Moody Beach since 2013. He said he doesn't mind if people use the beach in front of his house, as long they are respectful.
"I have plenty of beach. As you can see, people lay in front of my house, and I think it takes more energy to be nasty and to chase people off the beach and to yell at them, than it is to just let them enjoy the beach," Giarusso said.
This past weekend, dozens of protesters gathered and walked along the private section chanting "Free, Free, Moody Beach." The protesters were from two groups, Our Maine Beaches and Free Moody Beach. A lawyer representing the people opposed to the current law said it's time the court reverse its 1989 ruling and make Moody Beach public again.
"The people here are really upset. They've been dealing with this issue for 30 years now. We have signs on this beach now that falsely claim that this is private property," said Benjamin Ford, an attorney for Archipelago Law in Portland, who represents plaintiffs demanding public beach access.
Since the 1989 law, beachfront homeowners own the stretch of land from their house to the low-tide line. Pedestrians are allowed to pass through, forage, hunt for birds or fish, according to the law. People who set up beach chairs and umbrellas can be asked to leave the premises.
"It was based on some Puritan law which is kind of ridiculous," Nina LaLiberte, who was sitting on the public side of Moody Beach, near the private line, said.
Giarusso is not like some of his neighbors who have posted signs marking their turf as "private beach" and "no trespassing." "It takes more energy to be rude and to fight with these people than to just let them enjoy the beach. It's nine weeks," Giarusso said.
The protesters claim that children have been yelled at while sitting on the private beach. Others, they said, have been arrested for building sandcastles.
“Not true,” the Wells Police Chief, who said calls from homeowners complaining about people on the private beach have been few and far between, said. The lawyers fighting to have the 1989 ruling overturned are hoping the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.