The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has backed Cape Elizabeth in a long-running land dispute over shoreline access.
Some residents of the town’s Shore Acres subdivision have long insisted they own the land between their property and Broad Cove. The Press Herald reports some had incorporated parts of the land into their backyards by installing patios, fences and irrigation systems.
Cape Elizabeth asserts it owns the land and access to the rocky shore and could be developed by the town. The state’s Supreme Court has sided with Cape Elizabeth.
The high court’s ruling preserves the town’s “incipient right of dedication,” which would allow the municipality to dedicate the land as a public way. More legal proceedings are possible.