Two months after the Appellate Court of Maryland decided that two Eastport residents do not have standing to sue over the public’s right to access Wells Cove, an inlet in Eastport, the residents have asked the Supreme Court of Maryland to consider the issue.

The case was petitioned by Annapolis attorney Joe Donahue on behalf of Eastport residents Jessica Pachler and Karen Jennings, who have been engaged in the legal battle since 2021.

In 1986, the city required a public path to be built to the open space and waterfront area of Wells Cove. In 1992, the owners of Blue Heron Cove Condominiums signed an agreement guaranteeing public access to the pathways and waters at Wells Cove.

In February 2021, Donahue filed a lawsuit on behalf of the two Eastport residents to enforce the agreement. The suit was dismissed the same year by a circuit court judge who found it did not meet legal standards.

Pachler and Jennings filed a second lawsuit that year, renewing the legal challenge after the city signed an agreement with Blue Heron cutting off water access. The 2021 agreement allows the public to walk to, but not enter, the water at Wells Cove. The walking path is open from dawn to dusk.

Last year, Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Elizabeth S. Morris ruled that the residents of Blue Heron Cove cannot block the public from accessing Spa Creek. An appellate court decision in July overturned that ruling.

The City of Annapolis was also named as a defendant in the circuit court case. The city is no longer involved in the legal proceedings.

The opinion, issued by Judge Melanie Shaw of the 4th Appellate Judicial Circuit, said the residents, who do not live in Blue Heron Cove, failed to prove they suffered a unique “monetary burden” by being unable to use the water inlet, and therefore could not sue as taxpayers on behalf of the general public, adding that the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County “erred” in its judgment in March 2023.

Now, the Eastport residents are challenging the appellate court ruling, arguing that the issue is “not a land use case,” according to court documents. They are asking the the state Supreme Court to find that the appellate court “erred” in ruling that the plaintiffs do not have standing to sue to enforce a public access easement, said Russell Stevenson, founder of the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, an organization dedicated to providing legal services to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Edward Hartman, the attorney representing Blue Heron Cove Condominium Association Inc., opposed the petition in a court filing, arguing the appellate court did not err in its decision.

The Maryland Supreme Court must now decide if it will accept the case. It’s unclear when that will happen.