The state land board yesterday approved a so-far-unfunded concept for a new Koke‘e and Waimea state parks master plan. The plan, drawn up by officials of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of State Parks and a
The state land board yesterday approved a so-far-unfunded concept for a new Koke‘e and Waimea state parks master plan.
The plan, drawn up by officials of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of State Parks and a consultant, includes the termination of leases for 106 recreational cabins located in the parks in northwest Kaua‘i.
Lessees of cabins located on parcels they lease from the state at Koke‘e are objecting to the plan.
The action by the land board (Board of Land and Natural Resources) during a meeting in Honolulu could mean the holding of a public auction where the leases would go to the highest bidder.
The Koke‘e Leaseholders Association, which includes business and community leaders, along with members of kama‘aina Kaua‘i families, is vehemently opposing such an auction.
Association members have said they have been outstanding caretakers of their cabins and surrounding lands, and that the land board should extend their leases when the bulk of them expire in December 2005.
The adopted plan also calls for an entry gate to the parks, where park users would pay a fee to enter; construction of new overlooks above Waimea Valley; and the building of a visitor center and park headquarters.
Also proposed is the renovation of the Koke‘e Museum and the Koke‘e Lodge located at Kanaloahuluhulu Meadow in Koke‘e.
The proposed projects are on paper only, and before any can get off the ground must be put through environmental studies and receive final approved from the land board, state DLNR spokeswoman Lauren Tanaka said. There is no funding for the projects at this time, she added.
Lynn P. McCrory, the Kaua‘i representative on the land board, said she supported a plan that calls for taking “care of what we have now and improve that, not about expanding.”
She said the land board was looking to protect one of Kaua‘i’s most valuable natural resources. “I think the board looked at preserving Koke‘e State Park and Waimea State Park for the long term, for generations to come, and that is very important,” McCrory said.
Tanaka said the land board took these key actions yesterday:
- Approved a plan calling for continuation of the planning and environmental impact statement process for the parks;
- Directed the DLNR Division of State Parks to further analyze the concept of issuing a master lease for recreational residences in the parks;
- Determined the cabins will remain in recreational use following the termination of the current leases. But the board retains the right to determine the disposition of the lots after the analyses are done.
The land board adopted one of four master-plan alternatives DLNR staffers and its consultant, R.M. Towill Corporation, based in Honolulu, developed to maintain, protect and enhance the parks over the next 20 years.
The plan adopted by the land board calls for a property-management company or a nonprofit group to manage the cabins, Tanaka said.
“We will be looking at the feasibility of having a property-management, for example, or even a private, nonprofit organization, to take over the management of a good portion of the improvements and lots,” she said.
The management company could manage the bulk of the lots, and possibly lease a few cabins on a “longer-term basis,” Tanaka said.
Auctioning of the lots also is a possibility, she said.
Another possibility is to go with either the auction or management of the lots through a master lease, or implementing a blend of both, Tanaka said.
The current leaseholders won their leases in an auction held in 1985, and Koke‘e Leaseholders Association members want them extended when the bulk of them expire in December 2005.
Another 10 or so leases would expire by March 2006, but if the Land Board decides to lump them all together to close out all the leases at one time, they could vote to have all the leases terminate by December 2006, Tanaka said.
The Land Board has never extended the leases for the recreational cabins, Tanaka said.
The first leases for Koke‘e cabins were negotiated in 1965. Nearly half of the leases have switched hands since that time, according to members of the leaseholders association.
When the leases expire, unless otherwise determined by the Land Board, the cabins would become the property of the state, a condition written into the 1985 leases, Tanaka said.
But some cabin owners contend that the taking of the cabins by the state amounts to taking of the property without compensation, opening the way for lawsuits.
Tanaka said it was her understanding the “improvements” amounts to anything that sits on the lots at the time the leases expire.
“We are asking the AG (state attorney general’s office) for a ruling on whether people can take their cabins off the property before their leases end,” Tanaka said.
Tanaka said some leaseholders who attended yesterday’s meeting in Honolulu told the Land Board the “historic feel” of the cabin community would be lost by not having individual lessees maintain the cabins.
Tanaka said any management company with the master lease would be required by its contract to properly care for the cabins.
The Land Board also conceptually approved the construction of a gate at the entry to the parks and the charging of fees, which have not been determined at this time, Tanaka said.
“Every other state in the nation has park entrance fees in some form,” said Tanaka in defense of the option.
She said DLNR officials are aware some residents, mindful of costs, may not use the parks as often if fees are assessed.
That problem could be handled by establishing kama‘aina rates or annual passes offering discount fees, Tanaka said.
The Land Board also conceptually approved the construction of new overlooks that would be built off the road that leads to the Koke‘e Museum.
Tanaka said DLNR officials hope to build the park improvements over the next 20 years.
The funds could come from an operator for the master plan and the state Legislature, she said.
“Someone will have to give us the money, or the private operator will assist in a partnership with the state in providing these facilities,” Tanaka said.
Whether the projects are developed also will depend on whether future DLNR land board determine they are priorities and seek funding for them, Tanaka said.
The cost estimates for the improvements are still being worked on, she added.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
