2008-01-11 TMAUNAKEA - Laserfiche WebLink

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DOMINGO: Mr. Chairman, you know, I’m reading this letter here by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. And as I read it, you know, it gives me a, I have a perception as to what they’ve written here that the hotel is somehow denying or regulating the amount of visitors entering into the property going down to the beach. And the statement that they were told that there were no public beach parking spaces when in fact there were, and that there were no parking spaces or passes when in fact there were four open public spaces, and that in regards to the pass system, that the easement was created even before Mauna Kea Beach Hotel had permitted any security or pass system. I don’t know. You folks would like to explain that or you have anything to say with regard to the assertions made here? MAPES: There is a system in place at Mauna Kea to make sure that there are enough spaces available for the public to park; and as you see there are 30 public parking spaces. So in the rare times when all the spaces are taken, then people can go down to the public parking and drop off their passengers at the beach. And as spaces open up then as people leave, others can come in. Now in preparing for this hearing and the application, we have reviewed the past record and this, you know, we just became aware of this letter today; and in our preparation we, this incident had not been reported. We were not aware of this particular one. But there is a system in place so that it’s orderly and that people can be accommodated; and we recognize that it is a popular beach. DOMINGO: Mr. Yuen, in negotiating for the public beach access, was the pass system discussed or mentioned? YUEN: You mean, in connection with the most recent application or -? DOMINGO: No, I think this would be at the beginning when the public access was required of them in the inception of the opening of the hotel. YUEN: I don’t know but I believe it was authorized by the Planning Director at some point quite a long time ago; and it has been in effect for quite some time. I don’t consider it a violation of their public access requirements to control the use of parking spaces by giving a parking pass. They said they have a public access. You can go in and drop somebody off, but they have a limited number of parking places. My understanding the pass system is used to control who gets, so that they don’t let in more people than the number of parking spaces that they have. DOMINGO: So at the present time you have 30 parking spaces? MAPES: That’s correct. DOMINGO: And it would be increased by 10? MAPES: Yes. It would be increasing by 10 for a total of 40. DOMINGO: Okay, that’s all the questions I have, Mr. Chairman. WATANABE: Any further -? Mr. Graham. EXHIBIT B 5