Papaikou Trail Commentary

NOTE: Thanks to the anonymous commenter who sent the response below to an earlier post about the debate over Big Island beach access at the Papaikou trail.

From Papa'ikou Resident:

I live in Papa'ikou, and personally know both these owners and some of the protestors.

Yes, the public access point is extremely close to the owner's house. The owners also have an issue with people making beach fires, from which the smoke goes in their house.

Both side have valid points in this issue. It should also be noted that the owners did transform this access into an easy to use trail at their own expense, which is was not before.

I doubt that Steve Shropshire would approve the alternate trail. Charlene Prickett adamantly opposed his development proposal, so not sure that he is motivated to help her. That said, I don't know his mind, although I believe he would like to earn good will from the public so that he can get some new variation of development approved for his land.

I also do not think the eminent domain acquisition will ever get though the process (and I have some reason to think that, but I'm not able to attribute a quote on this).

Ultimately, I hope the landowners and the public will find a way to meet on this. The public in this area are passionate about this access. It should be noted that there IS access from dawn to dusk, but the night access for fishermen is not resolved as far as I know.

The issue in Papa'ikou also involves a dispute over who owns the Mill Road, which is lined with homes deeded by the sugar company to its workers. The mill included the road in its sale to Waugh and Prickett, but the former employees say they were given an undivided interest in the road decades ago.

There really is no parking and no place to create any. There is not even parking for the residents as long as the owners maintain they own the road.

One possible solution is if the owners of Pinky's store agree to allow some parking on their private lot, which they might do, but I don't know if it would only be for local users.

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Any other Big Island residents who want to weigh in? Please keep us posted on developments or news related to this case! Mahalo.