HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0853.005 2010-2012 • Hokunani&Keone Roback
27-139 Mill Road(P.O. Box 614)
Papa`ikou,Hawai`i 96781
Tel: (808)964-3232;Email: hoku.roback@gmail.com
September 30, 2012
To: Members of Hawaii County Council
Re: Resolution No. 308-12
Dear Members of Hawaii County Council,
Aloha! My name is Hokunani Roback. I live in lower Silverton camp in Papa`ikou, very near the
proposed condemnation of private property for public access to the beach sight. My husband Keone and I
purchased our home about 7 years ago, among other reasons,to be near the ocean,walking distance to be
precise. Keone enjoys surfing, fishing, and diving, and I enjoy swimming with our kids and combing the
beach for treasures of beach glass and Hamakua jade washed up from old tsunamis. We had been down
to the beach years before buying our home and decided to jump at the opportunity to purchase our fixer
upper. I am an elementary school teacher with the State of Hawaii on leave at present, and my husband
is a firefighter/paramedic with the County of Hawaii. We have 4 children and 1 on the way. We are
fortunate to live here and I am grateful.
Concerning Resolution No. 308-12,my husband and I believe in public access to shoreline, and
in fact believe access to any beachfront,including Mill Beach, is a public right,as I'm sure many other
people feel as well. When Charlene Pricket and her husband Jim Waugh began to impose certain beach
access regulations,such as: no night access,no dogs,no bicycles or baby carriages or other wheeled
contraptions, and parking restrictions, I was a bit peeved at first, as I had become accustomed to taking
our pet dog and wheeling my young children in a stroller down to the beach. In my na`au (gut)I felt,
hey, I'm the public, I should be able to determine my own access to this beach, especially as I am a
resident of the area. But then I also realized that when I enjoyed other public beach or ma uka facilities,
there were time restrictions,parking restrictions,amongst other regulations, according to the particular
place you accessed. Public access doesn't mean a complete free for all. While talking story with
Charlene and her husband of my concerns, I came to understand a lot of their restrictions were based on
safety concerns, and bottom line, they weren't denying access.
Over the years since then, I have witnessed: a decrease in traffic and excess speeding on our
roadway,no strange cars driving to the end of the road to park at lam in the morning,no beer bottles at
the end of the road or tiny little ziploc bags to pickup in the morning,no more strangers coming in my
yard to use the water hose to rinse off without asking, and at times when I not at home. I have also seen
an increase of pedestrian access to the beach. Yes access today is not what it was when I first moved to
this place; it has good points and maybe not such good point;but the good points definitely out-weight
the not so great ones. Whether we disagree or not, access to the beach continues daily and I have seen
people come walking up the road well past 6:30pm so there is leniency on the hourly restrictions.
Mr. Yagong shared at the meeting at Papa'ikou Gym on Friday, Sept 21, 2012,that parking was
still not necessarily going to be available for beachgoers as Mill Road is too small to accommodate such;
and my guess is that like other beach parks owned and cared for by the County hourly restrictions will
still apply. Both of these I believe were the main concerns from what I heard that night.
The other main concern I heard that night was fear that access could be taken away completely
and anger towards the owners that they could decide to do so even though they haven't. Access to the
beach continues as before,nevertheless the fear that it could be taken away remains. I believe whenever
you purchase beachfront or ma uka lands here in Hawaii,you have a kuleana to allow access to the ocean
or the forests so that people can be nourished in the abundance of these types of places whether for
hunting and gathering,giving offering,or just relaxing. In what I have seen the owners have upheld their
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Comm. No. v Q 3 S
Ref. To: FL
Ref. Date CT 0 2 ZUla
Hokunani& Keone Roback
27-139 Mill Road(P.O. Box 614)
Papa`ikou,Hawai`i 96781
Tel: (808)964-3232;Email:hoku.roback@gmail.com
kuleana and continued access to the beach. Thank goodness they are not of the mind of some others that I
heard at the meeting,people touting ideas that"they don't have to allow access... anybody else would
shut down access." Herein lies the problem. This widely held misconception that beachfront access is
not a public right. The State or County must prove this misconception false otherwise the State or County
has the kuleana to provide a public access. I have also heard at the meeting, people touting ideas that
"they are condescending,bad people that don't care about the community." Charlene and Jim have kept
access to the beach open,even making the trail nicer,bigger,and easier to traverse than it once was, and
access has not been denied. I personally could not afford beachfront property nor would I want to
because of the kuleana it entails. Yes the owners put up hourly restrictions, and parking restrictions but
in hindsight I believe they were necessary, as it's helped to improve the safety environment on our street.
I also believe it shows they care about the community. In addition to speeding and heavy traffic,partying
involving drinking and drug use was also a problem in both the illegal parking and beachfront area at all
times of the night. Rather than ignoring this and other problems, they made a very unpopular decision
and imposed certain beach access regulations. This has contributed to a chain reaction of all kinds of bad
feelings on both sides of the fence. I get the"stink-eye"for telling people to slow down when driving on
our street, so I'm sure they get a lot of slack for having the restrictions they do.
The fear of what or who could come next remains. Could the next owners be not so nice as these
people have been?Could the next owners fail to uphold their kuleana and close access altogether because
they believe it is their right?While I can see that people don't want to wait until access is denied to ensure
access for all,I think condemnation and imminent domain seems harsh especially when the current
owners have kept access open. Making decisions like this of imminent domain based on fear is just not
pono (right). Apparently,the owners are very unpopular right now,but this is not a crime. In a very
recent dialogue with our neighbor Charlene,my heart went out to her because; I can see that she is
shocked by the community's attitude toward them. In this dialogue she shared that both she and Jim
never want to deny access, and that they are willing to subdivide their property and sell to the county
another access to Mill Beach, coming from the Hamakua side by the radio tower, and inclusive of parking
area also near the radio tower. The access would be a little shorter than the current access,sturdier than
the current access (which is eroding on some of the bends),easier to upkeep than the current access,
inclusive of a parking area, and instead of Mill Road for access this access would instead use the road on
the Hamakua side of the Mill belonging to Steve Shropshire which has no homes and only agriculture
lands. I'll honestly tell you I see that as a relief, as my home is probably about 15 feet from Mill Road
and my children play basketball,ride bike, skateboard,with supervision,on the roadway since we live
practically at the end and I still have to remind people to slow down. With this in mind, I propose to the
County that this access to Mill Beach be looked at whole heartedly and the resolution 308-12 be amended
to make this the public access and included parking area proposed by the owners Jim Waugh and
Charlene Prickett, and instead of Mill Road using the other road along agriculture lands belonging to
Steve Shropshire.
Sinc-r-ly
Hokunani Keone Roback