Ka'anapali group sues over beach vendors

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

WAILUKU, Maui — Fed up with the proliferation of ocean activity and vendors setting up shop on Ka'anapali Beach, hotels and other resort property owners have gone to court to clean up the famous stretch of ocean front.

Josh Dean of Island Style Adventures conducts a surfing lesson for a visitor on Ka'anapali Beach. Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser

A hearing yesterday in Maui Circuit Court on a request for a preliminary injunction was continued to June 8. Judge Joseph Cardoza is expected to rule on a request to bar the vendors from the beach pending a full hearing on the lawsuit.

If the association is successful in its bid to remove the beach vendors, the case could have far-reaching consequences for resort beaches across the state. The Wailea Resort in South Maui, for example, has also clashed with beach activity vendors.

J.P. Schmidt, attorney for the association, said the suit is intended to prod the state into enforcing existing rules that prohibit solicitation on the beach within the Ka'anapali Ocean Recreation Management District.

But state officials say their hands have been tied by the courts. Five years ago, a District Court judge ruled that posting a sign or banner advertising a service isn't enough to constitute solicitation as the law is written. Enforcement officers, the judge said, must actually hear a sales pitch before issuing a citation.

Randy Awo, Maui's DLNR enforcement chief, said officers have been foiled in their attempts to enforce the regulation.

He said he has asked the state attorney general's office to write a more restrictive rule.

Schmidt said the Ka'anapali owners have complained loudly and even met with former DLNR chief Timothy Johns about the problem. He suggested they petition the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to have the rules changed.

But Schmidt said it's not the job of the Ka'anapali Beach Resort Association to correct state law.

Ka'anapali beach condominium owners testified in court yesterday that each day the vendors lay out an unsightly clutter of signs, umbrellas and tents and then store their equipment on the beach overnight. They also approach beachgoers with sales pitches, the condominium owners said.

"They're a nuisance,'' Schmidt said. "They're beginning to make Ka'anapali Beach look like a third-world country. All the property owners are unhappy and extremely frustrated.''

Andrew Von Sonn, attorney for Belles, suggested in court yesterday that the association is being selective in what clutter it wants removed from the beach. He pointed out that the hotels put lots of cabanas on the beach, taking up more space than the vendors. He said the hotels also stack the cabanas on the beach at night.

In addition, Von Sonn noted that waiters take drink orders from those using the cabanas, which is essentially soliciting on the beach.

The vendors named in the lawsuit have state permits allowing them to run their operations within the Ka'anapali area. The permits, however, do not allow solicitation.

Meanwhile, on Ka'anapali Beach yesterday, it was just another day for Cy Miyamoto, owner of Island Style Adventures, which is not named in the lawsuit. He said he runs his business under state permits that allow him to conduct surf instruction and equipment rental.

A short stretch down the beach is Belles' Blue Water Surf tent.

Miyamoto said he has an arrangement whereby guests can book his surf lessons at hotel activity desks and the hotel gets a commission. If someone walks up to him on the beach and asks for lessons, he has to walk them to an activity booth to sign up, he said.

Miyamoto said he loads his gear onto a truck at the end of the day and hauls it back the next morning.

He said he sees both sides of the argument: Tourists pay a lot to come to enjoy the beach, so why should it be cluttered?

On other hand, he said, "hotels are saying it's good for them to do it, but not for everyone else.''