2006-09-11 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes (Kona Mtg)

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relocated a long time ago. Mr. Varney stated his vision would be no real major infrastructure changes to the parcel. Possibly opening up the old Kawaihae to Puako road with some parking down by the coastline so people could walk down to Mau`umae. Mr. Varney stated he didn't think a parking lot down by Mau`umae would be a good idea. Mr. Varney stated having some day camping areas along the way for fishing and day use would be good. The coast line was pretty rough and low. Ocean access is good for fisherman but not for swimming; possibly campsites for overnight. Mr. Varney stated maybe twenty years from now there maybe a need to change it and cut down a lot of the keawe trees but right now they do provide a lot of shade and there were a bunch of coconut trees just south of Spencer; you could expand Spencer a little bit and stop and then make little pockets that go south to Mau`umae. Mr. Varney stated the area where the homes were has already been disturbed and it's been bulldozed and flattened. That area has already been impacted. From there you could walk to Mau`umae in less than five minutes. Mr. Varney stated some of the work could be done by volunteer groups similar to Wai`aha Beach in Kona. Mr. Varney stated he thought the Queen Emma Foundation might be willing to work with the County and they might be able to get the strip of land for a bargain. Ms. Garovoy asked Mr. Varney what the threat was to the area right now. Ms. Garovoy stated she has walked it and it seemed that the beach was accessible to pedestrians at this point. Ms. Garovoy stated it's pretty easy to park at Spencer; the Alakahakai Trail takes you there which was state owned. Given the limited resources that the County has, it seems a publicly accessible beach already. Mr. Varney stated he didn't believe that it currently was going to be developed nor did he think the Queen Emma Foundation had any development plans. They own a ton of land around Kawaihae and if they were going to build on it, they would've already. It definitely should not be put on the top of the list, he's just hoping it's added to the list and recognized. Mr. Varney stated you could park at Spencer Beach Park and walk there; it takes 20 minutes to walk to the beach but you have to be physically fit to get there. If you are older; it is a way to go. Further, the situation with the parking passes at Mauna Kea, they currently give out ten 10 passes per day, if you try and go there after 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m, you won't get one. It's supposed to be open from sun up to sun down, but you won't get one after 4:00 p.m. Mr. Varney stated sometimes, if you are down at the beach, the property owner that manages the old home on the southern end of Mau`umae will come up to the beach and tell everyone the beach is closing. If you walk in from Spencer, you could stay there all night if you wanted. Mr. Varney stated the longer you wait the more expensive it will get. Initial discussion with the Queen Emma Foundation now so they are aware of it would be a good thing. They may be willing to come to County and say, we'll give it to you. Mr. Varney stated he would be willing to work with the commission on that; communicating with them because he has work with them before on a lease -fee exchange in the past and they were very pleasurable to work with. Chair stated on the LSD landing at Kawaihae, that's another place where people swim, it's being lost because of homeland security. Do you think that the federal government could mitigate the loss of that to the public in helping with the acquisition of Mau`umae. 7