Mystic — The organization that owns the St. Edmund’s Retreat Center on Enders Island has admitted in a new lawsuit, which it has filed against Mystic Seaport Museum and two other entities, that it and its predecessors for decades have violated the stipulations of the covenant that granted it the island in 1954.

That is exactly the allegation that a group of Masons Island residents have made in their pending lawsuit against St. Edmund’s, in which they charge the retreat center is violating local zoning regulations by exceeding the uses allowed in the covenant and by the town of Stonington. The town has ruled the center is in compliance with the zoning regulations.

The controversy arose when St. Edmund of CT sought permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair a deteriorating seawall on its property. In order to get a Corps permit and funding, St. Edmund has to show it has clear title to the island.

The neighbors who have sued have alleged that the property should revert to a list of 30 individuals and groups who are entitled to partial ownership of the island if St. Edmund fails to use it as novitiate for the society and a place of retreat for the Diocese of Norwich. Those were the stipulations set up in 1954, when the late Alys Enders deeded the island to the Society of St. Edmund’s, the predecessor of St. Edmund of CT.

In the past few decades St. Edmund’s has expanded the uses of the retreat center to include substance abuse and counseling programs, art workshops, retreats and fundraisers by various groups and daily Masses and a passive recreation area open to the public. Neighbors have complained that this has increased traffic on the narrow roads of Masons Island and turned St. Edmund into a resort.

In its suit, St. Edmund acknowledges that the island has not been used primarily as a novitiate for the Society of St. Edmund or a place of retreat for diocesan priests for well over 15 years. As a result, it argues the legal title to the property reverted to the heirs decades ago.

It states the island’s uses and programs have been open and publicized since at least 1955 but none of the heirs known as “residual beneficiaries” protested or took any action to interrupt St. Edmund’s use of the land.

Due to the Army Corps requirement that St. Edmund submit proof that it is the exclusive owner of the island, the suit states that St. Edmund has obtained quit claims from 27 of the heirs who own 94.375 percent of the island, in which they have relinquished their right to the property due to the breach of the covenant. One of those is Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, which held a 15 percent interest in the island, which is thought to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

The remaining three heirs are the Seaport and the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, which hold a 1.25 percent stake each, and John A. Steffian of Waterford, who owns 3.125 percent. The three have not agreed to quit claim their interest.

St. Edmund now is asking a New London Superior Court judge to “quiet the title” or end the interest in the property, not by the three entities but anyone else who may claim ownership interest, and declare that St. Edmund of CT is the sole owner of the island.

On Thursday, Seaport President Steve White issued the following statement: “We are supportive of efforts to restore the seawall and, as a fellow not-for-profit organization, Mystic Seaport Museum has energetically pursued a collaborative solution with St. Edmunds regarding Enders Island. We are disappointed they have chosen to take this costly and lengthy adversarial approach. Recently, we offered a creative and fair proposal that would give St. Edmunds what they requested — a deed conveying the Seaport’s interest in Enders Island — while achieving our two priorities: preserving Alys Enders' original intentions and honoring our obligations to our organization and its donors, but St. Edmunds responded to that offer with a lawsuit.”

In an October letter to Rev. Thomas Hoar, the president of St. Edmund’s Retreat, White wrote that the museum has a responsibility to its nonprofit organization to protect an interest in the island in case it has economic value and St. Edmund ceases to exist or does not meet the requirements of the covenant. He added the museum wants to work to assure the Army Corps that St. Edmund is the sole owner of the island so the seawall can be rebuilt.

j.wojtas@theday.com