The Land Court reviewed the Colonial Ordinance of 1641 in this case involving claims by multiple backlot owners to use the beach in a seashore subdivision known as Silver Spring.  The Land Court found the backlot owners had established an easement by prescription to use a stairway to the beach and the beach seaward of the high water mark.  Key pieces of evidence in this case included the timing of the conveyances of the waterfront lots, the layout of the subdivisions, and the backlot owners’ efforts to maintain a stairway to the beach and the beach itself.

Read the decision (PDF)