Another legal volley has been launched at the town of Rockport by Long Beach residents, aimed at the public’s right to get to the beach by walking across the land the homeowners lease.

In a lawsuit filed Jan. 27, 57 cottage owners allege that provisions that allow public access through their lots interfere with “the quiet enjoyment’’ of the property, and result in decreases in the value of their houses that sit on town-owned land.

In 2015, Judge Robert A. Cornettagranted a preliminary injunction that remains in place, which states the public should not be allowed to reach the beach by crossing over house lots that are leased from the town. The ruling limited foot traffic to five designated public paths that run on either side of and through the summer community, which has three rows of dwellings.

The current suit seeks to remove the public access language from the leases. It also requests a permanent injunction as well as “actual and consequential damages,’’ equivalent to three months’ rent, interest, and legal costs.

“The most important thing is that the public does have access to the beach,’’ said William Sheehan, attorney for the plaintiffs. “There are five points of access. We’re just trying to keep the public off the lessees’ lots, unless the lessees themselves want to let that happen.’’

The Long Beach impasse is the third squabble in the region involving summer colonies, clusters of individual-owned structures that sit on town-owned land.

In Ipswich, the Feoffees of the Grammar School — a trust set up in 1660 for the benefit of Ipswich schools — in 2012 settled a legal dispute with summer homeowners on Little Neck by selling 167 cottage sites for $32.5 million. The impasse began when the Feoffees sought to raise rents, which they argued were well below market rate.

Since a Town Meeting vote involving Conomo Point in 2011, the town of Essex has worked to systematically rezone some of its 123 leased parcels, selling some, tearing down cottages on others, and continuing to rent some sites while creating more accessible public space. Sales generated about $12.5 million, and leases over the next 20 years are expected to generate approximately $10 million more.

Meanwhile in Rockport, when Long Beach cottage owners signed new land leases in February 2014, the 154 owners accepted significant rent hikes. Previously, the annual fee for a cottage on the ocean (Row 1) started at $2,534. In the new lease, prices increase each year, to at least $8,088 for beachfront in 2017 to $16,419 in 2023.

Under the new leases, the occupancy season has been extended by two months, from April 1 to Dec. 1, when water service is shut off.

Many issues raised by tenants have not been about sticker shock, but about other provisions in the new lease, said Long Beach resident Steve Sheehan (no relation to William Sheehan).

After being told that aside from the large rent increase the terms would remain the same, Sheehan said, tenants were shocked by some provisions, including one that transferred sea wall liability to the tenants. The town rewrote the lease to remove the liability, and Sheehan said residents continued to try to negotiate the public access provisions. Frustrated, he said, they filed the latest lawsuit.

Rockport Town Administrator Linda Sanders said the provision in the new lease didn’t change traditional public use. “It was never, ever an issue, and selectmen wanted people to know they could still [walk across people’s lots],’’ she said, adding that the town has offered to remove the provision in settlement talks.

The fight is about principle, Steve Sheehan said, quoting Judge Cornetta from 2015 court transcripts: “If you want to lease it, that’s one thing. If you want to turn it into public recreation land, that’s something else. But I don’t really think you can have it both ways.’’

Selectman chairman Paul Murphy said he hopes the town can resolve the issue to satisfy all parties, but he took issue with the complaint’s allegation that the change has affected property values.

“They say property values have gone down, but I’ve seen nothing in writing that would suggest that,’’ he said.

David Rattigan can be reached at drattigan.globe@gmail.com.