A Letter to Mufi on Beach Access

Dear Mayor Hannemann

My name is Wendy Watson-Erickson. My mother and father are Poni and Chuck Watson. My parents moved here in the 40's. My father was president of Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. and was later a sculptor with pieces all over these islands. My mother was a well know realtor. We were the first family to move into Dune Circle. My father was friends with Sherry Dowsett who owned the land. We bought an old officer's quarters and my father separated it into the first 3 houses in Dune Circle. Sherry sold two of them and my father kept the 3rd. Soon Dune Circle built up and at some point talk of a gate being put up began to be discussed. My parents were vehemently opposed to it. They had always believed the beach accesses were for everyone. When I was 15 the first gate went up in Kailua to block a beach access from the public. We moved to Lanikai because that gate went up in Dune Circle. The aloha was gone as far as our family felt. Dune Circle was no longer home for us.

Kailua no longer seems like home to me who was born and raised here. I have been using the acccess at L'Orange for 23 years when I moved onto Kainui Place. Our family was friends with the Staple family on L'Orange. Everyone knew the Staples. Mrs. Staple ran a swim school where many Kailua families children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren learned to swim. They were eventually forced off o L'Orange by un-friendly neighbors who didn't like the parking from the swim school. A sad day for L'Orange.

As I drive up and down Kalaheo I see NO BEACH ACCESS signs on almost every road. This is a shame and the home owners on beach side Kalaheo should be ashamed of themselves. I am passionate about this issue and will not rest until ALL the gates are removed or at least open in the day time so Kailua citizens can access their beach.

It is not fair for the few landowners who live near the public accesses to have to carry the brunt for all of beach side Kalaheo. Their neighborhoods will have parking problems, loitering, trash, noise and other problems since those one or two public accesses that are marked and available to the public will be the only place for people to get to the beach. As it is, even those streets around the public accesses have put up rocks and trees to keep people from parking on there property. All the aloha is disappearing from our town.

How are our elderly supposed to get to the beach? They can't be expected to walk from where they park their cars blocks from the access hauling their beach things down a long public access. Which by the way, I could only find 3 as I drove Kalaheo today. They are way too far apart and some aren't even marked. And what about emergency vehicles. I would hate to need an ambulance or fire engine to help save myself or a loved one. They'd have to search for someone to open a gate.

This whole thing has gotten out of hand and we can no longer stand for it. Either they be forced to take the gates down, starting with Dune Circle, or they find some aloha in their hearts and open them in the daytime so their decent and deserving neighbors can get to the beach that belongs to all of us.

Please do not let this issue die because they say these are private lanes. If private, then let them arrange to get their own mail, water, electric and/or whatever other public services they accessing now. I am extremely upset also by the way a few of the L'Orange neighbors are behaving towards people who come down their lane. This has gone way over the edge.

Wendy Watson-Erickson