LIHU‘E — Two pieces of legislation — a resolution and a bill — approved by the Kaua‘i County Council last week may give the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission the necessary tools to make a second,
LIHU‘E — Two pieces of legislation — a resolution and a bill — approved by the Kaua‘i County Council last week may give the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission the necessary tools to make a second, safer access to Papa‘a Bay a reality.
“For all of us who care about the beach, who care about being able to get down to places, it feels really wrong to just simply being the playground of the rich, when they’re not even there,” North Shore resident Felicia Cowden said of Kaua‘i’s beaches that have limited access.
“I really encourage whatever you can do help set a rightful precedent to allow people to access the beach at Papa‘a Bay,” she said.
Since the 1920s, Kaua‘i residents were able to access Papa‘a Bay in Aliomanu through a 19-acre property fronting the beach. But in 1958, the property owner closed the gate, blocking the access, according to Resolution 2012-59.
“The only current access to Papa‘a Bay is along a steep and hard to traverse trail, located along the southern edge of the bay,” the resolution states.
The county in recent years engaged in two lawsuits against Mandalay Properties Hawai‘i, trying to secure a safer access to Papa‘a Bay, and lost in both cases, according to the resolution.
On Wednesday, the council took action, through the resolution, to encourage the commission to pursue obtaining a safe and adequate access route to Papa‘a Bay, and requests that the commission look into all venues to make it possible, including the use of eminent domain.
The council’s resolution, however, is only one piece of the puzzle.
The resolution was first up for discussion Nov. 14, when it was deferred. At that meeting, Councilman Tim Bynum did a slide presentation, in which he showed aerial photos indicating that the county has an access road that stops about 600 feet short of the beach.
It is exactly that avenue that the council wants to explore in finding a safer and easier access to Papa‘a Bay.
But with somewhat limited funding, the job of the Open Spaces Commission is not that easy. That’s where Bill 2453 fits as the last piece of the puzzle.
On the same day the council approved Resolution 2012-59, it also gave Bill 2453 final approval. The bill triples the amount that goes into the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund.
Up until now, the fund was receiving 0.5 percent of the county’s real property tax revenue, while Maui and Big Island counties receive 2 percent each of their RPT revenues.
The newly approved bill raises the annual amount the fund receives to 1.5 percent of RPT revenues on Kaua‘i.
If the bill were to be applied to current numbers, the Open Space Fund would have received $1.21 million this fiscal year. Once Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. signs the bill, it will go into effect at the start of next fiscal year, July 1.
Despite a positive outcome for beach access, Cowden’s testimony touched on different issues around Kaua‘i, which have led to much loss of access in the last few decades.
“We are regularly blocked,” said Cowden, citing federal agencies shutting down beaches in the Westside, high-end landowners closing access in Kilauea, and homeowners planting land barriers in Ha‘ena.
“Heartbreaking doesn’t feel like a strong enough of a word,” she said.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
