HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0853.045 2012-2014 ,? P t,k0 t4 AC—c Cc 111 X53 ( s ) z)
October 16, 2012
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni St
Hilo HI 96720
Aloha,
I am Deborah Ward,30 year Puna resident,Sierra Club member,and hiker who appreciates access
to Hamakua trails and shoreline.During the past thirty years I have been involved in several public
access and shoreline issues,two of which I would like to briefly touch on to illustrate the parallels
with the Papaikou access issue before you today.
Honolii
In the late 1980's,just after the inundation by lava of Harry K Brown park in Puna,a private
developer sought to divert nearly all the water in Honolii stream for a hydroelectric plant.Sierra
Club,and subsequently,surfers,intervened,because we feared for the impact on native stream
organisms,and for the important recreational resource at Honolii beach. Expert testimony
presented at the time demonstrated the importance of free-flowing stream water contributing to
the maintenance of the shorebreak and surfing site.After two years of work the permit was denied,
and Honolii park remains the finest surfing site in the Hilo vicinity.Without continuing community
involvement this site would have been a lost remnant of our past.
Onomea
In adjoining Onomea valley,formerly a village known for its fishing and agricultural resources,the
land along the shoreline had been purchased by Dan Lutkenhouse. He began plans to develop a
private botanical garden,and closed the traditional access routes to the shore.Calvin K.Mukai,who
had lived his entire life in the nearby town of Papaikou,asked the help of Merle Kai and Takashi
Domingo,two members of the County Council,in restoring public access to Onomea Bay."For years
and years I have fished,swam,and surfed here.So has my family and friends,even my father as a
young boy.Now the area is fenced up and has barbed wire with 'No Trespassing' signs.I realize that
the area is private property,but doesn't the shoreline remain open to the public?Shouldn't there be
access to the beach and ocean?",he asked.
Nelson Ho,conservation chair of the Moku Loa group of the Sierra Club,wrote: "Access to the
botanical garden is presently gained through a road which appears to be a portion of the 1884
coastal road.... HTBG closed this road to the public some years ago and uses the road to transport
the paying public to the botanical garden.Now,HTBC would like a permit to develop yet another
road traditionally used by the public to gain access to Onomea,the 'Old Donkey Trail.' [A] cable has
appeared across the opening of the donkey trail with a sign saying that trespassers will be
prosecuted." By January of 1992,the Department of Land and Natural Resources had received
several complaints regarding the matter of access to public areas.Not only had Lutkenhouse posted
the Donkey Trail with signs indicating it was private property,as Mukai had reported,but kayakers
reported Lutkenhouse had strung razor wire along the shoreline,creating a serious safety threat,
well outside the limits of Lutkenhouse's privately owned land.An account in the Hawaii Tribune-
Herald that year cited an endemic Hawaiian Monk Seal basking on the Onomea beach, (in sight of
the razor wire).
Ed Johnston spearheaded the fight to reopen to the public the government road at Onomea Bay,and
in doing so,earned the wrath of the founder of the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Garden, Dan
Comm. No S3•_
Ref. To:
Ref. Date NOV 0 9
Lutkenhouse.In November,Johnston was sent two letters,postmarked in California,containing
clear threats to him and his wife. "You and your wife are snakes!" one letter began. "People here
don't like snakes in Hawaii.Leave while you still can!!!"The frill text of the second letter reads:
"You are sick and selfish.Many people hate you.Your day will come!" Because the threats were
carried in the mail,the FBI has opened an investigation into possible criminal actions. Evidence in
the case suggests the unsigned letters may have been the work of an employee of the garden.
While pulling up Miconia seedlings on the Donkey Trail,during June Trails Week,my father Gilbert
Ward and I were confronted by garden employee who demanded that I leave or he would call the
police.I also received a threat on my telephone answering machine,saying I should leave the
garden alone or I would be sorry.
In the end,a mediated agreement was negotiated,and in December (1995),a crew from Na Ala
Hele,the state agency charged with maintaining and securing public trails,smoothed,widened,and
graveled the portion of the state-owned road corridor leading from the end of the paved road to
Onomea Stream.Also,as provided for in the agreement,the garden has provided the necessary
fencing,and all county permits needed for the Alakahi trail were obtained.
However,some people still report difficulty with garden personnel giving out misleading
information.One couple reports that they were approached by a security guard,who told them that
unless they were from the island,they could not use the trail.The couple,both Caucasian,
apparently were mistaken for tourists.They informed the guard that they were,in fact,from the
Hilo area,and,in any event,no such limits on access exist.When they proceeded down the trail
undaunted,a gaggle of tourists who had apparently been turned back by the guard lined up behind
them.
On another occasion,a Hawaiian man who wanted to gather'opihi in the area near Alakahi Stream
was told he could not go there,even though he had planned to hike in along the rocky coast
seaward of the garden's property. Garden personnel told him that until the path to the small beach
at Alakahi was opened,no one could use the area - not even someone who swam there! The 'opihi-
picker was skeptical,but chose not to challenge the garden on the matter,and then left the area.
Papaikou parallels
The parallels of these experiences with Papaikou access involve the testimony and involvement
with retaining traditional access for fishing,hiking,swimming,surfing,kayaking,and natural
resource protection.The Onomea case also involves the issue of government or traditional road
access protected by state law. In the Onomea case,the state conducted a title search,as well as a
survey by the Department of Accounting and General Services.The title search found clear
references to a government road in parcel descriptions done in 1889.The state surveyor was able
to identify at least the mauka boundary of the old trail.While in places it had eroded down the cliff
face,enough remained intact to allow safe pedestrian access across the valley floor. .
As early as October 1991,Ross Cordy of the DLNR's Historic Preservation Division noted (in a letter
to the Hawai'i County planning director) that"1860s grant maps clearly show that the main coastal
trail connecting Hilo and Hamakua (the 'alanui aupuni') did pass through the project areas.Based
on other areas in Hilo and Hamakua where 1840s-1850s documents label this trail the
'alanui aupuni,'this trail was the late prehistoric to early 1800s coastal trail.Later,this came
to be called the'Hilo&Hamakua Road'in the 1880s."
Ed Johnston,who unsuccessfully sought a contested case hearing in 1993,has conducted additional
research, finding that in 1873, Isabella Bird described the village of Onomea as "a native village...
picturesquely situated,"with"a passable road"running through the valley.In 1913,historian Henry
Walsworth Kinney wrote,"the Onomea settlement[is] one of the most easily accessible typical
Hawaiian villages...Trails lead down into it on both the north and south side,it being possible to
ride down one,through the settlement,where a small stream must be forded,and up the other."
Apparently regarding the County of Hawai'i as a friendlier venue than the state Land Board,
Lutkenhouse attempted to get the county to assert its ownership over the road.This would have set
the stage for formal abandonment of the road by the county,with Lutkenhouse then able to
purchase the property from the county.On May 18, 1994,the state of Hawai'i challenged
Wurdeman's claim of county ownership over the road.The state,wrote Deputy Attorney General
Dawn Chang,"objects to the county of Hawai'i's position and has,in fact,determined that said
roadway is a state public trail,and accordingly,owned by the state pursuant to section 264-1(b) of
the Hawaii Revised Statutes." In a follow-up letter dated June 27, 1994,Chang elaborated: "We
believe that the Old Government Road/Jeep Trail [the Shuttle Road] and the Donkey Trail are part
of the Ala Loa coastal trail system of the island of Hawai'i.The Ala Loa coastal trails served as the
main coastal public routes in prehistoric-early historic times and usually encircled each
island along the shore. Registered Map 1649 prepared by A.B.Lobenstein in 1889 shows the Old
Government Road and the Donkey Trail as one continuous road,passing over a ford at Onomea
stream..."
"It is undisputed that the subject right-of-way was in existence prior to the Highways Act of
1892 and,in fact,was in existence in 1862...Consequently,the trail system qualifies as a
public trail pursuant to section 264-1(b),HRS,as it was declared a public right-of-way by the
Highways Act of 1892. Moreover,since the trail has not been dedicated to the county of
Hawaii it is under the jurisdiction of the Board of Land and Natural Resources."
The Papaikou access issue has a similar,if somewhat less documented,history,and we would ask
the County Council to follow up and consider carefully the documents provided by surveyor Neil
Hannahs,showing the traditional trail and route to the shore during the last century. Should the
trail be confirmed as a traditional access remnant,the public use should not be impeded,and the
use of eminent domain my not be necessary.c i
Deborah Ward
P.O.Box 918
Kurtistown HI 96760
808-966-7361