A new Town Meeting warrant article requesting funds for ongoing litigation fees involved with acquiring a public easement for Cedar Beach Road will be discussed by the Harpswell Board of Selectmen at their Wednesday meeting.
Citizen group Cedar Beach/Cedar Island Supporters is requesting an article be placed on the March 2015 Town Meeting warrant, authorizing the town to issue $110,000 to the group for expenses involved with gaining Harpswell residents and their guests access to Cedar Beach and abutting beaches via Cedar Beach Road.
Access to Cedar Beach was closed in 2011 after Cedar Beach Road owners Charles and Sally Abrahamson made an unsuccessful bid to sell the road to the town. Residents autho- rized the town to expend $220,000 to acquire access, which did not meet the Abrahamsons’ asking price of roughly $945,000.
CB/CIS formed in 2012 to pursue access to the historically public beach and filed two lawsuits, one against the Abrahamsons and one against the owners of a parcel with a footpath, historically used to access the beach, which also had been closed.
Access to the parcel containing the footpath was settled in mediation, with the town voting overwhelmingly in favor of accepting the terms of the settlement at the March 2014 Town Meeting.
The case against the Abrahamsons continued, and was joined by Betsy Atkins, whose company Gables Real Estate LLC purchased the road from the Abrahamsons in July.
On Sept. 15, Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills ruled in favor of CB/CIS, finding that there is a prescriptive public easement on the property in question, which reopened access to the public.
However, litigation continues as Christian Chandler of Curtis Thaxter, the attorney of Gables Real Estate, filed a motion to amend the September ruling to clarify that access to Cedar Beach Road was strictly for pedestrian use.
In a November interview with The Times Record, Chandler said Gables will be appealing Justice Mills’ ruling to the Supreme Judicial Court regardless of the outcome of the motion to amend.
According to a letter from CB/CIS to the Board of Selectmen, the citizen group has expended $190,000 in legal fees in pursuit of preserving public access, and with an appeal looming, the group is requesting $110,000 to defray costs.
The $220,000 previously authorized by the town expires Dec. 31. In a November interview with The Times Record, CB/CIS president Mike Helfgott said the group has received roughly $200,000 through fundraising efforts to support their pursuit for access.
“I’m concerned about how financially stressed some of our supporters are,” said Helfgott, who estimated an additional $100,000 to $150,000 in legal fees could accrue before a final decision is awarded.
The Harpswell Board of Selectmen will meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Harpswell Town Office, located at 263 Mountain Road.
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