Residents of the Goose Rocks district of Kennebunkport are apparently preparing to assert their alleged rights to exclusive use of the small beach in that area.

We say “alleged” because this is shaping up as a potential legal battle, and the claims of ownership are hardly self-evident. In fact, the evidence seems to show that the property has been (as a lawyer might say) in “open, notorious, visible and uninterrupted” use by the public.

The details of this particular case haven’t fully emerged, but the scenario is familiar. At various times, many property owners in coastal York County have asserted their right to block the public from beaches and shorefront walking paths.

It’s not good for community relations to call your neighbors trespassers for using property considered to be public, but that’s often what happens when the stakes get high enough. A court decision extinguishing public rights to Goose Rocks Beach could substantially increase property values.

And money isn’t everything. Having a beach to oneself would be ever so much more enjoyable than sunbathing with the multitude. There would be scads of room for badminton and horseshoes, and you could invite the right crowd over anytime for drinks or a clambake.

Let’s acknowledge that property owners may have a legitimate grievance ”“ the public is not always well-behaved. Efforts to privatize a beach or shore walk are often accompanied by reports of bad behavior, and the presence of rude, thoughtless people almost everywhere is a sad fact of life.

The selectmen of Kennebunkport deserve credit for their determination to preserve public access. We hope it doesn’t come to a court case but if it does, they should seek out witnesses like those from Wells who recalled how, in the carefree days of long ago, families played and picnicked and even drove their cars on Moody Beach.

Although the first Moody Beach decision sharply limited public rights in the intertidal zone, the Maine State Supreme Court later gave great weight to evidence of traditional public uses.

The Kennebunkport board should also get a clear understanding of what the property owners are really after. They may have worries about their liability for mishaps, or they may want the beach maintained or improved, or they may want public use closely regulated.

A legal challenge to public shorefront access seems like a risky undertaking for both sides. The public certainly has a lot to lose, but a verdict against the property owners might make the beach a more open and public destination than it is now.

Lawyers dislike ambiguity, but as far as public access to the shore is concerned, a little uncertainty can be a good thing.