LIHUE — A former state representative and current chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission is being investigated for illegally building and operating a Hanalei bed and breakfast for more than a decade. The state Department of Land and Natural
LIHUE — A former state representative and current chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission is being investigated for illegally building and operating a Hanalei bed and breakfast for more than a decade.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources alleges that Hermina ‘Mina’ Morita and her husband, Lance Laney, ran the vacation rental Taro Patch Hale without permission, and built the secluded North Shore vacation getaway in a state conservation district without the proper permits.
The couple has been ordered to shut down Taro Patch Hale and could face significant fines for possible violations, according to documents obtained by The Garden Island.
In a Dec. 16 letter addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Laney, William Aila, chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, outlined the state’s allegations.
“We have evidence that the following land uses were conducted on the subject parcel without our knowledge or authorization: clearing of vegetation; grubbing, construction of three building structures; construction of one large carport/building; on-going vacation rental of the ‘Li’i Cottage’ and ‘Nui Cottage,’” he wrote.
Aila ordered the couple to cease further land uses and activities, including all current and future vacation rentals.
Taro Patch Hale is on a 3.18-acre parcel within the State Land Use Conservation District Protective Subzone, at the end of Ohiki Road.
A Google search turns up several listings promoting the vacation rental. TripAdvisor, an online travel site, gives the Hanalei spot a ranking of 4.5 out of a possible 5.
Laney declined to comment after being reached by phone Monday, but said he has shut down the bed and breakfast. Phone calls to Morita, who represented East and North Kauai in the Legislature from 1997 to 2011, were not returned Monday.
In a draft submittal report expected to be on the agenda for the BLNR’s meeting March 28, Alex Roy, planner of the department’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, wrote that the ongoing investigation — initiated by an anonymous complaint in 2008 — “recently afforded new information and evidence that supports this alleged violation claim.”
Deborah Ward, information specialist for DLNR, confirmed the department is investigating the matter, but said the submittal is not official until it is presented to the Land Board.
In its investigation, OCCL determined that two unauthorized land uses — “unauthorized construction” and “vacation rentals” — were conducted on the property, according to the document, approved and signed by Aila.
OCCL files indicate that the landowners received approval to reconstruct one non-conforming single family residence following Hurricane Iniki in 1992. However, there are now four additional structures on the property that did not receive authorization by BLNR, according to the report.
Laney and Morita’s property is located just below the site where the Hanalei River breached its bank in 1995. A $1.9 million restoration project by the DLNR is scheduled to begin in April and conclude before the end of the year.
In an October letter to Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Aila, Honolulu attorney Les Iczkovitz raised questions about whether Morita and Laney may have caused the flood event.
While Iczkovitz could not personally vouch for the accuracy of the information he received from Hanalei residents, he said it seemed “sufficiently valid.”
“If Ms. Morita and Mr. Laney actually built an illegal second residence, in the middle of a wetland on their property, without proper permits, so close to Hanalei River, one might suspect that this illegal building may have contributed to the 1995 flood event, and the ongoing breaching of the stream bank,” he wrote.
Morita was chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee from 1999 until she was appointed as PUC chair by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in 2011. She is the first-ever female chair of the PUC.
Hawaii Administrative Rules state that “no land uses shall be conducted in the conservation district unless permit or approval is first obtained from the department or board,” and that “transient rentals are prohibited, with the exception of wilderness camps approved by the board.”
Laney and Morita were notified of the violation via certified mail Jan. 3. A phone call to the OCCL office from the landowner on Jan. 21 “revealed that vacation rental activities were still ongoing (landowner admitted to OCCL staff that both rental units were currently occupied) and that future rentals had already been reserved through monetary deposits,” the report states.
“Landowner also requested that the future vacation rentals be allowed to proceed as monetary deposits had been obtained,” Roy wrote in the submittal. “OCCL staff reiterated that vacation rentals are not an identified land use in the conservation district.”
The OCCL is likely to recommend a $15,000 fine for each of the two violations, an additional $1,000 fine for administrative costs, and for the landowners to remove all unauthorized structures from the property, according to the submittal.
The fines would be due within 90 days of a board action, with all structures slated for removal within 120 days.
“Should you fail to immediately cease such activities and land uses (i.e., vacation rental) after written or verbal notification from the department, willful violation may incur an additional fine of up to $15,000 per day, per violation for each day in which the violation persists,” Aila wrote in his December letter to the couple.
Taro Patch Hale’s website, www.hanaleivalley.kauaistyle.com, has been shut down, with the words “Business is no longer in operation.”
• Chris D’Angelo, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.
