The Island County commissioners were presented with a difficult choice this week: accept a tempting offer for two public beach accesses and end an ongoing battle with two beachfront property owners for a historic access in Greenbank, or fight on in court and face the ugly prospect of getting nothing at all.

We don’t envy the decision before them.

This is a bit of a no-win situation, as whatever is decided will be perceived as a win or a loss to constituents. The problem is the outcome is defined by personal perspectives and what one believes the battle for Wonn Road is really all about. If the point is to improve access to the shoreline, the deal offered by Bruce and Joanne Montgomery seems like a surefire victory. But if you believe this issue represents something greater, that the wall is a monument to overstepping property owners and must be torn down, then accepting the settlement is nothing less than a resounding defeat.

We’re inclined to agree with the latter.

Though additional beachfront property would be nice, Wonn Road has never been about the broader issue of securing more access to the shoreline — it’s about preserving an existing one, a treasured and historic public access that’s been enjoyed and utilized by generations. Equally important, this case has become a statement, a line in the sand that pronounces, “Wealth will not triumph over public right.”

This issue began in 2008 when Bruce Montgomery, who’s enjoyed a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, built a wall across the end of Wonn Road, a beach access since the 1800s. Montgomery said it was to prevent people from parking on his drain field. Residents, particularly the late Glen Russell, cried foul but due to murky property line records, it wasn’t until 2012 that the commissioners filed a lawsuit and vowed to do whatever it took to reclaim the longtime access.

The suit has slogged along ever since, but a settlement offer this month could end the eight-year-old stalemate. See page 1 for details.

In a Wednesday work session, Commissioner Jill Johnson said accepting the Montgomerys’ deal isn’t giving in, that the terms are strong evidence to the contrary. She makes a compelling case, but ultimately we believe the louder message is that with enough money and enough lawyers, one can get whatever they want — they can even break the law.

County roads that end at the shoreline are public. Anyone with a pair of working eyeballs can see this is the case at Wonn Road, but that fact remains at the heart of the legal dispute. Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, however, was spot on when she said this is a decision for a judge, not the board. If the county loses, then so be it. It means the property didn’t belong to the county in the first place and the Montgomerys won’t have been wrongly forced to fund the acquisition of public land.

The commissioners should reject this settlement. Wonn Road is a historic and treasured public access. It’s a part of our heritage, and in a sense a part of who we are. We should fight to keep it. It’s worth the risk.