The Skagit County Superior Court has set Oct. 11 as the start date of a jury trial over whether Greenbank residents Joanne and Bruce Montgomery had the legal right to build a stone wall at the eastern end of Wonn Road, excluding the public from a historic beach access.

The county sued the couple in 2013 in Island County Superior Court, seeking a judicial declaration that it, not the Montgomerys, owns the land extending from the eastern end of Wonn Road toward the water, including the piece on which the couple  built their wall in 2008. The Montgomerys moved the suit to Skagit County shortly thereafter, alleging they couldn’t get a fair trial locally.

Earlier this year, they offered to settle the suit, but the county’s Board of Commissioners declined to accept the settlement, an act that won public acclaim.

Between now and then, the county and the couple will continue with discovery, the process of exchanging documents and taking depositions, said Jane Seymour, an attorney for Island Beach Access, which is a party to the lawsuit.

“We will attempt to narrow the issues or resolve the whole matter on summary judgment,” she said. Summary judgment would shorten the decision process by handing one side or another a victory before trial begins, but it is rarely granted.