Call to Action!

In conjunction with the Surfrider Foundation, Kahea, and other groups, we are moving forward with plans to stage a statewide sign-waving day to promote awareness of public beach access issues on Sat., Feb. 2, 2008.

Yep -- Groundhog Day! Which is appropriate since battles over beach access keep resurfacing year after year, and the same arguments play out like scenes that keep repeating in the Bill Murray movie, "Groundhog Day." And as one of our allies noted, some of the private landowners seem to be acting like ground hogs of a different sort.

Speaking of allies, we're pleased to join forces with Kahea, the Hawaiian environmental alliance. They share many of our goals and concerns. Kahea is sponsoring an event on Weds., Dec. 5 from 6-8 PM to honor the legacy of the late John Kelly, founder of Save Our Surf. It will be held at the Church of the Crossroads in Manoa. For more information on Kahea, please visit their site at http://kahea.org/. For details on the event, go to http://www.live-the-legacy.net/.

If you would like to volunteer to help with the Groundhog Day protest and/or our petition drive, please drop by the California Pizza Kitchen in Kailua on Tues., Dec. 4 at 6 PM for our small, informal meeting. Some of us will then be going over to Councilwoman Barbara Marshall's meeting at St. John's Lutheran Church in Kailua, which starts around 7 PM. Sen. Fred Hemmings says she and the City Council are "shirking their responsiblities" on addressing public beach access, so it'll be interesting to see what her response is to his charges!

Finally, one more meeting reminder: the Kailua Neighborhood Board meets at the Kailua Recreation Center on Thurs., Dec. 6 at 7 PM. The only BAH-related item we know of is a motion to move the gate issue into another committee that would allow more interaction between residents and the board members. We'll keep you posted on that.

Letter of the Week

Your letters continue to make a difference by keeping the issue in the public eye, so keep sending them! This heartfelt message appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin Letters to the Editor on Sat., Nov. 23, 2007 :

"Everyone should have easy beach access"

I am deeply concerned and saddened by the recent Kailua beach access issues. This is, however, no longer an "issue" -- it is a crisis. The State Supreme Court once opined that "the Western concept of exclusivity is not universally applicable in Hawaii." The problems in Kailua lead me to believe that this principal is slowly being eroded.

When beachfront lots were initially offered in Kailua, I, like many Hawaiians, could not afford one. Those who could afford the lots built houses, and many of them let the City and County install and maintain the roads. These communities availed themselves to the benefits of city living (water, sewer, garbage pickup), yet at the same time, they put up locked gates, excluding everyone else from enjoying Hawaii's greatest natural resource -- the beach.

As an octogenarian, I am no longer able to enjoy our beautiful beaches like I did when I was younger. My mo'opuna, and every other resident of Hawaii, are entitled to unencumbered access to our beaches.

Let's re-introduce Rep. Marcus Oshiro's bill to stop the wrongdoing being done to us Hawaiians. Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono (The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness).

Elizabeth Ernst-Heiligman
Kailua

Reasons To Be Cheerful...

On this Thanksgiving Day weekend, we're grateful for people like Bob and Trudy Moncrief (above) who were willing to publicly speak out against the gate that was put up on L'Orange Place, where they've lived for 37 years. Since then, they've been ostracized and vilified by the other L'Orange residents. Yet they still have a sense of humor as you can see!

BAH would also like to give special thanks to Pete Dyer, Paul Haring and other Kuulei Tract residents who have shared information from their successful fight to reopen the Banyan Tree access after a landowner closed it off in 1988.

On a personal note, mahalo to all the people who have volunteered their time, energy and skills to help us in this cause... I started to list the individuals, but there were too many to name!

Which is why we're going to succeed in our mission. Because what started with a small group of concerned Kailua residents has now grown to a statewide movement to protect public beach access. Expect to see some potentially exciting news on this blog after Thanksgiving! Sorry, can't say more than that just yet...

And start taking your own Christmas Gates photos so we can post them too. How about the Grinch who stole Kailua Beach?

Beach Access Protest at State Harbor

Although our group wasn't directly involved with this rally to save free parking at the Bowls surf spot, it's a reminder that beach access isn't just about gated roads. Here's an excerpt from Will Hoover's article in the Honolulu Advertiser...

Parking fee plan for state boat harbors draws protest (Nov. 11, 2007)

Dozens of protesters rallied in Waikiki yesterday against an effort by the state to charge the public to park at small boat harbors. The group was mostly upset because they contend the fees would deny access to an ocean area near the Hilton lagoon cherished by surfers and other recreational users.

But they said the move would adversely affect people on the Neighbor Islands as well.

"We feel they are taking the rights away from the public because if we don't have money, we aren't going to be able to come in with a car because they're going to put a toll booth up front," said Melissa Ling-Ing.

She is a spokeswoman for the Common Ground Hawai'i, one of several groups at the rally that opposes rule changes proposed by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources that include charging the public hourly parking fees within the harbor.

"So, they are denying us access to a public beach," she said...

To read the complete article, please go to:
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/11/ln/hawaii711110350.html

Politics vs. Reality

The biggest laugh of the night at the last Kailua Neighborhood Board meeting was in response to a comment made by the Mayor's assistant, Ann Chung, about our group's suggestions to make Kalaheo Avenue safer for pedestrians. As you can see in the photo above, the stretch of road between L'Orange Place and the public beach access is especially dangerous for parents with children in tow since the dirt and debris takes up half the shoulder. Bicyclists use that same narrow lane too. It's an accident waiting to happen. But so far, our concerns have been ignored by officials.

We also requested that crosswalks be painted at every public right of way location. Sounds sensible, doesn't it? However, our "No Can" Mayor had his assistant tell us that maybe crosswalks aren't such a good idea, because they give pedestrians "a false sense of security." Even members of the Neighborhood Board laughed at that excuse to justify doing nothing. Yet later on, another government official suggested the answer to making Kapaa Quarry Road safer was to paint some lines on the road and put up signs -- probably because that's a lot cheaper than fixing the road itself.

And you can be sure our elected officials will use the money excuse to do nothing on beach access unless we make it clear it will cost them votes come election time. If you haven't already written our government representatives, please use the email contacts on the right side of this page under "Get Involved" and tell them you want to know where they stand on the issue!

A Step Towards State Action?

The Kailua Neighborhood Board passed three motions related to beach
access at their monthly meeting on Thurs., Nov. 1. One asked the Dept.
of Planning and Permitting to verify if the gate on L'Orange Place is
in compliance with the permit that was taken out by Rich Carvill,
president of the L'Orange homeowners association and owner of Carvill &
Company, a real estate business. The permit was for a wood fence and
gate. What was erected is not made of wood. Manini stuff? Maybe. But it
seems like some of these gated road homeowners only want certain rules
and laws enforced when it suits their needs.

The other two motions passed are more significant:

Motion 1: The Kailua Neighborhood Board No 31 requests that
Councilmember Marshall's office initiate a tax assessment review of all
Kailua private lanes and beach rights of way that prohibit public
access.

A letter has already been sent by the KNB Sustainability Committee to
Barbara Marshall, who says she is in favor of financial tax
disincentives for private road homeowners who deny public access to
beaches. Will higher taxes persuade some to reopen or keep open their
lanes? We don't know yet, but it's worth looking into.

Motion 2: The Kailua Neighborhood Board requests that the State
Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Attorney General along
with other state agencies as appropriate verify whether, or not, the
County of Honolulu is in compliance with public access to the beaches
and other recreational areas, and to provide the KNB with that
information as required by Section 198D-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
including access to all beaches, shorelines and inland recreational
areas in Ko'olaupoko.

This is big, folks. We don't know if anyone has ever asked the State
DLNR or Attorney General to say whether the County of Honolulu is in
compliance with "guidelines" on public beach access. We already know
that in Kailua at least two of our public accesses are more than a half
mile apart -- and the standard is supposed to be a quarter mile.

Moreover, State Senator Fred Hemmings spoke at the KNB meeting and said
public beach access is "a serious problem" that "has to be addressed"
by the County of Honolulu, and the State as well. Tell him we need his
help and support, by calling him at 587-8388 or email him at:
senhemmings@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Mahalo to BAH members and the KNB for staying there until 11 PM last
night to pass these motions! It may not seem like much to pass a motion
about sending letters. But it's a major step towards getting the State
to acknowledge that something needs to be done to preserve beach access
for all of Hawaii.

Next up: KNB Sustainability Committee meeting, Tues., Nov. 13, 7 PM at
the Kailua Recreation Center. Special thanks to KNB members, Christian
Porter, Linda Ure and Kalana Best for their work on the committee in
assisting BAH!

(Submitted by Rich Figel, phone: 262-5073).