Secret Beach in Cape Elizabeth was mostly empty last Wednesday evening as waves lapped against the sandy shores adjacent to the Broad Cove development.

But the tranquility belies the high-profile controversy that has been surrounding its use since Paul Woods and Helen Muther, who bought a Shore Road residence near it, started preventing local residents from accessing the beach. Many of the residents who have been using the beach for years feel they are entitled to continue using it.

The dispute is finally going to trial. The Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland will hear the case sometime during the next session, which starts Oct. 16 and ends Dec. 22.

“My kids used to come here every day,” said Peter Black, a resident of Hunts Point Road, as he walked along the beach Wednesday evening with his kids, Schuyler, 8, and Annesley, 5. His wife, Joanne, and their 20-month-old baby, Sam, were unable to make the trek. “The kids’ favorite thing to do is come down here and ride their bikes,” he said. Black said he hasn’t taken them to the beach lately because of all the controversy.

Black said he moved to his Hunts Point Road residence seven years ago, and has been using the beach in harmony with other residents until the recent dispute with Woods and Muther. Black said residents have not had previous problems with parties or vandalism at the beach. He said not only does he have to explain the situation to his kids, but he bought his home, like everyone in the area, on the market value of a residence with beach access.

Woods and Muther bought their Shore Road home in March of 2004. On the property, next to the house, is a strip of land about 20 feet wide that has been used by residents of the Broad Cove area for the last 35 years as access to Secret Beach. It is the only access to the beach, said Black.

Woods and Muther posted a no-trespassing sign in July of 2005, said Black. Neither Woods nor Muther returned phone calls seeking comment, placed by the Current throughout last week and early this week.

Woods and Muther are suing the Broad Cove Shore Association, Leslie Connolly and Beth Hess. The New Broad Cove Shore Association, the Broad Cove Shore Association, Connolly and Hess are counter-suing.

Judy Metcalf, with the law firm Eaton Peabody, represents Woods and Muther. She said Oct. 4 that the couple is tired of people using the beach and access path when they have no right to do so. Metcalf said if her clients win the suit, there would only be about 16 neighbors who would be allowed access to the beach via the path. Metcalf predicted the suit would be heard in December.

The New Broad Cove Shore Association was officially created in July 2005, to replace the Broad Cove Shore Association, which had been a loosely organizated volunteer community group formed in the 1960s.

Black said Connolly and Hess were named in the lawsuit because they attracted Woods’ attention by being vocal about their dissent to the no-trespassing sign. Hess is also the president of the association.

The original developer of the Broad Cove neighborhood, I. Alan Balfour, left an access easement for residents to use Secret Beach and nearby Broad Cove Beach. The development was built in stages in the 1970s. The neighbors that Woods would allow access to the beach are the residences that were developed at the same time as Woods’ home.

All the Broad Cove residents have understood that they have access to the beach, and have bought and sold their land according to that market value, said Black. Balfour signed an affidavit in October 2005 that stated the original intent was to allow access to Secret Beach to all Broad Cove area residents.

“The access path has been landscaped by the association since around 1970,” said Black. He said the association has always had the path mowed.

Andrew Sparks, who works for the law firm Drummond and Drummond and represents the association in the countersuit against Woods and Muther, said the association wants to prove two things. First, that residents have a right to the access road because of the more than 35 years that it has been used by the public. Second, the original intent of the developer was that the entire Broad Cove area have access to the beach.

He said the court could call the parties to trial at any time, though usually gives a one-or two-week notice.

Beach no longer a secretBeach no longer a secret