CBS 13 • September 3, 2023
In 1989, a Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling privatized part of Moody Beach based on that 1647 Colonial law. Now, a group hoping to make the entire beach public again is using that archaic law to try to overturn part of that 1989 ruling. Attorney Benjamin Ford argues the same public access protections in the 1640s for fishing, fowling and navigation still apply today. Beachgoers can walk along the private part of Moody Beach. They’re just not allowed to stay there. Ford also said beachfront owners on Moody Beach aren’t paying taxes on the beach they claim to own. He said they pay the same property taxes as beachfront owners on the public Wells beach. “If they’re claiming to own the beach in front of their houses, then they should be paying taxes on the beaches in front of their houses,” Ford said.