The Trustees of Reservations and a group of Chappaquiddick landowners have brokered a temporary peace as a state court considers the dispute over a gate blocking an oversand vehicle trail to the Trustees’ Cape Pogue properties.

The Trustees, a nonprofit that manages miles of sandy trails on Chappy, filed a lawsuit against five Cape Pogue property owners last month, alleging that they erected a gate along the main trail to the Trustees’ Cape Pogue Wildlife Refuge land. 

The parties met in state Land Court late last month to talk about the Trustees’ calls for an injunction, and were advised by the court to come to an interim agreement before the June 24 next court date. 

The agreement, which holds while the case is in limbo, stated that the owners would give the Trustees the combination to the lock that secures the gate’s chain across the trail, allowing Trustees the ability to come and go along the trail, known as the Road to the Gut. 

The landowners have agreed to not interfere with the Trustees’ use of the property while the lawsuit is pending, according to the four-page stipulation. 

Only Trustees staff in Trustees’ vehicles are allowed to drive past the gate, and the chain needs to be locked back into place after use. The Trustees have also agreed to only have vehicles go through the property from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., unless there is an emergency. 

A trail log at the gate must be filled out when Trustees do use the trail, and public access will still not be allowed. 

The Trustees’ oversand vehicle trails has been a contentious topic for years, resulting in several lawsuits and hours of debate at public town meetings. As part of the agreement, each party “shall refrain from making any public statements or communications (including social media posts) which materially disparage, libel or defame the other party,” according to the stipulation. 

The Trustees declined to comment on the stipulation agreement and the landowners’ attorney Luke Legere did not immediately return a request for comment. 

The Trustees have maintained that the nonprofit has the ability to use the trail as part of an 1891 court order that divided the Cape Pogue land where the gate sits between several property owners.

Landowners Edward Self Jr., Judith Self Murphy, Jay Osler, Erin Michaud and Mark Osler are all being sued in the case. The five defendants have said that their families have owned land on Cape Pogue for generations, and they claimed the gate was installed in February at the boundary of a private lot following incidents of trespassing and property damage on Cape Pogue.