Season's Gatings... er, Greetings

Ah, yes. Christmas in Kailua is a magical time when people open their hearts... but not their gates. There are at least 17 beach-side lanes along Kalaheo Avenue that are gated or have "Keep Out" signs posted with threats of arrest if you try to use "their" private beach access paths. The Grinch would be proud of those folks!

There is irony in the air too surrounding the annual Obama family Christmas vacation in Kailua. The gate pictured above is on a public street at the end of the beach where the Obamas stayed in an oceanfront compound. It's ironic because the President ran as a champion of the people who was going to protect the middle class -- and yet he chose to stay in an area where only the rich can afford to live that is effectively blocked off from less wealthy Kailuans in that area.

In fact, there is only a single public beach right of way at that end and the next closest one is over a half-mile away. That makes it ideal for security purposes. The Secret Service and Honolulu police force are protecting an area that has already become a semi-private beach for the rich. Those who can't afford to live on streets with private access must either walk a long way to the public access, or drive to the main beach parking lots and hope they can find a space (on weekends the lots are full).

So to all the Grinches along Kalaheo Avenue and on Kailuana Place, who continue to lock out their neighbors, all I can say is have a Merry Gate-mas! Yes, you truly represent the aloha spirit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although Bob Moncrief has passed away, we can still be thankful for what he and his wife, Trudy, have stood for in the fight to preserve public beach access. The photo above of them was taken a couple of years ago in front of the L'Orange Place gate that led to the creation of Beach Access Hawaii.

The Moncriefs were the only homeowners on that street who opposed locking out neighbors and visitors from using the beach path at the end of their "private" lane. It should be noted that the residents don't mind having public services such as trash pick up, utility trucks and mail delivery using this "private" road... services their tax-paying neighbors subsidize.

One block over, Namala Place also has a gate -- and that one IS a public street, which our taxes go towards the upkeep. Yet they get away with locking out neighbors because the beach access is situated on a strip of "private" land between two houses. They also have street lights and public services paid for by the people they want to keep out. You can drive and park on the street that our tax dollars pay for, but you can't use the gate.

Meanwhile, Kalaheo Avenue continues to be dangerous for pedestrians and bike riders who must literally go out into the street to get around the dirt and debris, along the section from L'Orange to the only public access for over half a mile at that end of the beach. The City has been notified repeatedly, yet hasn't done a damn thing to rectify the situation.

I suppose we should be thankful that no one has been hit by a car... yet. Mark my words, it will happen.

Belated 4th of July Greetings!

The photos to the left are from the past two Fourth of July Kailua parades that Beach Access Hawaii took part in. My wife and I decided to take a long weekend trip to Vegas to avoid hearing the daily barrage of illegal fireworks in Kailua this year, so we didn't participate in this go-round. Things are pretty much status quo. No new gates have gone up along Kailua Beach as far as I know. But none of the other gated roads have opened up access to neighbors either.

BTW, last month while walking along a dangerous part of Kalaheo Avenue to get to our public beach access, I saw a young mother pushing a double stroller on that side of the road. When she reached the section where the shoulder of the road is nearly covered by dirt and debris from the adjoining property, she had to stop: half her stroller -- and one of her kids -- was jutting out into the road as traffic was speeding toward her!

She quickly pushed the stroller across the street while cars on the other side of the road were bearing down on her. I have repeatedly warned the Kailua Neighborhood Board and our City Council representative (both Barbara Marshall and Ikaika Anderson) that this is an accident waiting to happen. Remember this post when it does. Then I hope someone sues the crap out of the City for its inaction.

Gates: Public Safety Threat

Today I was reminded why this battle against gates still matters. While jogging back from Kailua Beach, I saw three paramedics pushing a gurney down the Kailuana Beach Right of Way -- the only public access for a mile-long stretch of beach. The dirt path from Kalaheo Avenue is well over a hundred yards before you even reach the beach.

As soon as I saw the paramedics I knew there was a big problem. I had just come from the beach and didn't see anyone in trouble near the #89A Emergency Locater sign next to that access path. I did, however, notice a group of people further down by the area surfers call Castles, near the house where President Obama and his family stayed last Christmas. That was at least a quarter-mile from the public access.

So I told the paramedics about that and asked how they planned on pushing the gurney through the sand. I noted that there was a closer access on Kailuana Place, but it was gated -- the locked gate in the picture. All they knew was that a surfer was injured, and this was the closest public access to where the victim was. Apparently it was not a life-threatening situation... but what if it was?

The paramedics left the gurney on the path and strolled down the beach. One made a call and shortly after that another ambulance drove down Kailuana Place. I presume they were going to try to get someone to open the gate so they could transfer the accident victim to the second ambulance. All this took 10-15 minutes... if it had been a heart attack or drowning victim, those extra minutes could have meant the difference between life and death.

What's more, Kailuana Place is a public street. That's right -- our tax dollars pay for the upkeep of their road! But the gate is on a privately-owned piece of land. How nice of them to share it with their neighbors, eh?

Merry Christmas, indeed. If President Obama stays at the property down that end again this year, I hope someone will mention to him that the locked gates along Kailua Beach are a very real threat to the public's safety. Whether you have health insurance or not won't matter if emergency help can't get to you quickly!

Watch Your Step

It's been well over a year since I contacted our City Council representative to do something about the unsafe conditions on Kalaheo Avenue, since residents must now walk along long stretches of road to reach the closest public right of way. We were told that the area next to the street is the responsibility of the HOMEOWNER -- not the City or State.

Supposedly the City sent notices to those homeowners, informing them they were supposed to clear the pedestrian/biking paths of debris and dirt, or the City would do it and then send the property owners a bill for that service. But as you can see in the video I took with my new Flip camcorder ("shaky-cam") nothing has been done. There is now less than a foot of walking space in spots. Cars have to veer toward the middle of the road to avoid walkers and bikers.

This is an accident waiting to happen. One resident has already been "clipped" on his elbow by a car's mirror. Further down the same street, a woman on a bike got hit last year. Is the City waiting for someone to get killed before it fixes the problem?

Kalaheo Avenue Safety Update

Back on Dec. 20 we posted a photo on this site showing how dangerous parts of Kalaheo Avenue are for people trying to get to the public beach accesses, since they can no longer use "private" rights of way right across the street from where they live. Those pictures were also sent to City Council Chair Barbara Marshall and the Kailua Neighborhood Board, with a request that the appropriate department be contacted to do something about the unsafe road shoulders.

We warned that it was an accident waiting to happen. On Feb. 9, a woman bicyclist was hit by a car at the south end of Kalaheo Avenue, where residents say the path is less than a foot wide -- just like in the photo we posted on Dec. 20 (taken near L'Orange Place at the north end). Fortunately, the woman survived, which is probably why it didn't make the news.

After we alerted Councilwoman Marshall to the accident and asked again if anyone was contacted about the narrow road shoulder situation, her assistant confirmed that they did get a response from the City Dept. of Planning and Permitting. According to the DPP, it is the responsibility of the HOMEOWNERS who live next to the "unimproved sidewalk" areas (meaning the bike/walking lane) to maintain road shoulders!

In other words, once again the City says it's not their job to make the road safe for residents who have to walk further and further just to find a public right of way to the beach. However, the DDP is supposedly going to notify those homeowners that they must do something about their property if it is encroaching into the walking path areas.

So rather than wait for someone to be killed by a speeding car, we're going to look into whether volunteers from BAH can try to clean up and fix some of the worst spots along Kalaheo Avenue on our own. But the City will probably tell us we need a permit to do that, I bet.

Action Countdown: Day 1

This stretch of road on N. Kalaheo Avenue between L'Orange Place and the public beach access two blocks away is an accident waiting to happen. The bordering properties are encroaching on the narrow walking path that has to be shared by both bicyclists and pedestrians since there's no room on the other side of the road to walk.

We've repeatedly pointed this out to City Council Chair Barbara Marshall and Mayor "No Can" Mufi, and so far, nothing has been done to address it. After the Tuesday night (Dec. 18) meeting of the Kailua Neighborhood Board Parks Committee, we sent more photos to Barbara Marshall. The KNB Parks Committee said it would also forward the pictures to the appropriate parties.

Let's see how long it takes before we get a response -- or will it take a tragic accident to get attention?

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!