People walk at Popham Beach State Park in June. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Two longtime neighbors suing each other over access to their neighborhood beach in Phippsburg have gotten some answers about who is allowed on what property, but a judge couldn’t decide what to do with some of the contested areas.

The Hill and Tappen families have been at odds for more than two years over who can access the sandy shore in front of their cottages in the Popham Beach Estates Subdivision. In a two-day bench trial at Lincoln County Superior Court in September, they pored over old maps, historical photos and land surveys.

Justice Thomas McKeon ruled Thursday that the beach’s intertidal zone – the area between the ocean’s high and low tides – is open to all subdivision owners for recreational purposes. But he wouldn’t rule on other disputed areas, such as the land above the high-tide line and between the Tappen and Hill cottages, which are separated by two empty lots.

Neither family could prove “on the face of the earth” where the boundary line is, so McKeon said he won’t rule on whether the Hills have a right to use that part of the beach, or whether the Tappens can object to them or their renters using it.

Superior Court Justice Thomas McKeon takes notes during the first day of trial in the dispute between two Popham Beach property owners, the Tappen family and the Hill Family, at Lincoln County Superior Court on Sept. 17. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

For McKeon to decide who that portion of beach belonged to, he would need input from the owners of the land between their cottages, according to the ruling. That lack of a decision could keep the door open for more legal action.

Glenn Israel, the Tappens’ attorney, said in a phone interview Thursday that the decision was not “terribly momentous.”

Israel said the neighbors will continue to argue over who is allowed on the property because the decision doesn’t change much. He’s not yet sure if the Tappens will pursue further legal action.

The Hills’ attorney, Ben Ford, said that the decision is a win for the family and the neighborhood – even if McKeon couldn’t resolve every issue.

“This is an important day, not just for the Hill family, but for all the generations of families that have grown up on this beautiful beach,” Ford said in an emailed statement.

He said the Hill family plans to work with the owners of the empty lots to resolve those remaining disputes.

WHERE TO DRAW THE LINES?

The Hill family had argued that the whole beachfront has always been considered a common area. Along with their beachfront cottage, the family owns five other cottages that they rent out.

The Tappens said they bought the rights to 3.5 acres of land in front of the two cottages for $15,000 in 2021, and they are concerned that the renters trekking to the beach will cause further erosion.

A main point of contention was whether the Hill family and their renters could walk on a path that crosses the disputed land to get to the beach. The triangular parcel, which the Tappens say they own, abuts the Hill cottage closest to the beach.

Dick Hill, one of the property owners, points to an 1893 land survey of the area that includes the Popham Beach Estates Subdivision during the first day of the trial over a dispute between two Popham Beach property owners, his family and the Tappen family, at Lincoln County Superior Court on Sept. 17. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Although McKeon ruled that the Hills can keep their cottage, where part of the house and the deck juts out slightly over the property lines, he said the Hills cannot use the disputed path. But they can use another path that stretches from their beachfront cottage, through the dunes and directly to the beach, McKeon wrote in the ruling.

The Hill family has insisted that the case would set a precedent for beach access in their neighborhood, and even more broadly in Maine. While this ruling only specifies that residents of the subdivision can access the intertidal zone, Ford said that is an important distinction.

“The decision vindicates what we all know to be true, no trespassing signs don’t belong on Maine beaches,” he said in an emailed statement.