KENNEBUNKPORT — Parties involved in the Goose Rocks Beach litigation will meet next month in court for private conference meetings, in which they will discuss new settlement terms establishing rules for public access to the beach.

Beachfront property owners, back lot residents and town administrators will meet on June 11, 15, 19 and 25 with Justice Andrew Horton in Alfred’s York County Superior Court to discuss the conditions of agreement.

“I think it’s going to be meaningful,” said Durward Parkinson, of Bergen & Parkinson, LLC in Kennebunk, during a phone interview on Thursday. Parkinson was hired last month by the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, which is acting as mediators in the negotiations.

Parkinson said he met with Horton Wednesday to schedule the conference meetings. The scheduling follows a statement this week from “the working group,” an association consisting of 13 town officials, Goose Rocks Beach homeowners and nearby residents, announcing that some of the plaintiffs were not willing to accept settlement terms distributed in March.

The settlement term sheet, written March 6 by the working group, said the key benefits of the settlement included: The town and Goose Rocks Beach plaintiffs will drop all claims to the beach, individual ownership rights to the beach will be affirmed, the beach will be open to the public for general recreational use and access points to the beach will be clearly identified with signs.

According to Parkinson, the terms will likely be scrapped and new ones will be written from all parties after they talk about what rules they would like to see enforced.

Following claims filed in 2009, attorneys representing the 32 Goose Rocks Beach residents and the town met in court for a preliminary hearing in November to state their cases declaring ownership of the beach.

In February, Justice Arthur Brennan set a month-long trial to begin Aug. 6, but if a new settlement plan is accepted, the trial will be canceled. Brennan said a trial was needed due to both sides providing deeds of ownership that were too ancient to allow a definite ruling. Some of the documentation dated back to the 1600s.

Besides some of the plaintiffs, the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust had received a majority of positive feedback from Goose Rocks Beach residents.

“We think it’s important to get as many people as possible (to agree to the plan),” said Tom Bradbury, executive director of the trust, on Monday, about the trust’s attempts to spread information about the settlement.

Since the settlement term sheet was distributed in March, 74 percent of the oceanfront property owners who responded said they supported the plan, up from approximately 66 percent two months ago.

The settlement required 80 percent of the Goose Rocks Beach homeowner plaintiffs and 80 percent of the neighboring locals to agree to it. In addition, 87 of the 109 beachfront property owners needed to agree to the settlement.

Of a group of back lot owners also seeking access to the beach, 93 percent of those who responded were in favor of the concept, 6 percent had questions and 1 percent did not support it.

The required percentage of back lot owners needed to accept the plan was already cleared, which Bradbury said he found encouraging.

“With hard work and a bit of compromise, we can get there,” said Parkinson.

Those involved with the lawsuit who are interested in voicing their opinions should contact Tom Bradbury or Lisa Lassey at the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust by calling 967-3465 or emailing info@kctoffice.com.

— Staff Writer Matt Kiernan can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 326 or mkiernan@journaltribune.com.