Ko Olina Complaints Continue...

Here are excerpts from two recent emails we received:

"I am kama'aina in Hawaii and live in Ewa Beach. I took a friend of mine to Ko Olina lagoons. While we found a handicap parking spot, we were still harassed by the guard because I use an umbrella to protect me from UVB rays since I have melanoma. Even though I have doctor's orders they still told us to leave because of my umbrella. I have never been treated this way on any beach in Hawaii, and I'd like to see the law that allows them to push us off a public access beach. I suggest visitors should vote with their feet and pick another destination resort rather than this fascist organization."

That's a new one -- I've never heard of anyone being ejected because of an umbrella! But that's not fascism. That's capitalism. The resort negotiated with the State or county on how many public parking stalls they had to provide to meet beach access requirements, and the public has tacitly accepted that agreement because there have been no major protests at Ko Olina or the Neighborhood Board for that area.

I then got this email from a member of the military who notes he has served his country, and yet can't use the beach at Ko Olina because of their restrictive policies:

"... I'm a local boy who was raised on the Island of Oahu, a Kapolei Knolls home owner, tax payer, and Army service member for the past 18 years. I'm emailing you because I'm really interested in how I can support public beach access to Ko Olina. I was turned around today because the parking lots were full. I then made a u-turn and said I'd like to go to the ice cream parlor there, and was allowed to enter the Ko Olina grounds. After parking in the commercial business parking lot near the ice cream shop, where there were many unused parking stalls available I noticed the shop was closed. I decided to go to the lagoons and see if parking may be available and was sent away by security personnel, who apparently were given my license plate number from guards at the gate entrance. I was also told that if I were to park at the commercial business parking lot and walked to the lagoons for a swim that they would have towed my vehicle away. I was escorted off the Ko Olina grounds shortly thereafter. Please let me know what my rights are to public beach access, or point me in the right direction and tell me how I can give my support to public beach access. I was very disappointed that I couldn't use the beach and felt like my rights were not important at all. This was very hard for me to accept being that I've served three combat tours fighting for my country and my beloved Hawaii ..."

My advice to him and anyone else who has encountered problems with Ko Olina is to write Letters to the Editor of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and MidWeek. Even if they don't publish your letters, it might prod them to do a story on that situation. It's going to come up again I think when Disney opens their resort out there.

I also suggest residents go to their next Neighborhood Board meeting and bring up this issue. Ask who came up with the agreement that Ko Olina only has to provide eight public parking stalls per lagoon. Ask what needs to be done to add more public parking.

Call the local TV news stations and tell them your stories of being denied entry. If you have a compact video recorder like a Flip camera or phone camera, try to get shots of Ko Olina security guards turning you away. Put those video clips on YouTube -- I'll post links here as well.

The bottom line is it's up to you to take action and do something. You should also contact the Surfrider Foundation and Sierra Club, since they both have paid staff that might be able to help publicize your complaints.