Whose beach is it anyway?

Happy Friday, everyone. I’m Billy Baker, and today I’m revisiting a controversial lawsuit involving a small beach at the tip of Cape Ann that has finally been settled. But first, here’s what else is going on:

• The Patriots now have the best record in the NFL after beating the New York Jets 27-14 at Gillette Stadium last night, New England’s eighth straight win. A spectating Rob Gronkowski danced with Robert Kraft in the owners suite.
• The Trump administration sued to block new congressional maps California voters approved last week, joining a court battle that could determine US House control in next year’s midterm elections. The administration hasn’t challenged GOP-led states that redrew their maps to benefit Republicans.
• As conservatives across the country seek to remove books from school libraries that deal with race, gender, and other topics, the Massachusetts Senate passed a bill that would make it harder to do so here. The bill now heads to the House.

Today’s Starting Point

Back in 2021, I became curious about red lawn signs all over Rockport that read “All are welcome, including divers.” Which I found odd because I had been under the assumption that divers had always been welcomed in Rockport.

Scuba diving was my first introduction to the town, when in 1994 – as a gift for my 18th birthday – I took scuba lessons in the pool at the YMCA on Huntington Ave. in Boston. And for our ocean certification dives, they took us all the way up to the tip of Cape Ann, to Back Beach in downtown Rockport, because it offered a safe, gentle beach entry. And metered parking.

Eventually, I found my way to the source of the signs, at the home of Stewart and Beth Renner. Now when you knock on a door and identify yourself as a Globe reporter, it can go one of two ways. The Renners went the way of “How much time do you have, and would you like some coffee?”

The Renners live a block off Back Beach, and they explained that a group of neighbors just behind them, who live right on the beach and were mostly newer summer people, had gone to war with the divers who had been coming to Back Beach and neighboring Front Beach for generations. (Incidentally, I recently wrote about the mysterious deaths of three divers at Front Beach.)

Insisting that the divers were loud and out of control, that they blocked their driveways and clanged tanks together at all hours, a group that called itself the “Back Beach Neighbors Committee” sued the town to get rid of them. And they lost.

Then in June 2021, the same “Committee,” which lists only six members, launched a more radical argument, suing in land court to claim that they in fact owned the public beach, the public street, and the public land that holds an American Legion Post and a bandstand.

A beach for me, not for thee

Their attorney told me they believed Colonial deeds established the beach as their property. The rest of the land, he argued, should revert back to them because in the 1820s, the former owners along Beach Street gave the town that land to build a school, and it’s no longer a school. In 1930, it became the legion post. And the street itself, well, in the early 20th century, the property owners donated land to widen and improve the street, but that did not happen because the state soon began construction of Route 127, a block away. So Beach Street should revert back to them as well.

To say the Back Beach Neighbors Committee was unpopular in town is an understatement. Everyone I spoke with snickered about “deep-pocketed summer people” and “selfish newcomers” who “moved here because they loved it and now want to change it.” And everyone was curious about the end game. Why? Do they really want to kick everyone off a beach that has been public since before any of us were alive? Just pop open a beach chair and have the place to themselves, surrounded by a community that loathed them?

The only member of the committee who would speak with me, then 90-year-old Stephanie Rauseo, insisted they had no interest in owning the beach, and were just looking for leverage to get the scuba divers under control. It was a lot of leverage they were asking for.

The beach is back

Late last month, the town finally won the lawsuit. A judge threw out the claims of beach and street ownership at summary judgment, and on Halloween the town announced it had successfully fought the rest of the neighbors’ claims. The court did find that an underground vault owned by the town encroaches on one of the properties, which the town acknowledged in court, and hearings will determine how to remedy that.

But for now, it’s over, and a public beach will remain a public beach. No small victory in a state where Colonial-era laws allow for private ownership of beaches all the way to the low-tide line, and coastal access is continually under threat.

Back Beach will stay Back Beach. The 4th of July bonfire will continue, as it has since 1853. And everyone, including divers, will remain welcome in Rockport.

Points of Interest

Boston: The owner of an exotic animal company found and rescued a baby alligator that somehow ended up in the Charles River. The roughly 18-inch reptile is now enjoying a heated tank in Abington.

Massachusetts: A Fenway High senior was among the many residents who testified on Beacon Hill yesterday in favor of restricting sports betting in the state.

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