Board wants moratorium on Kailua Bay businesses

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Bureau

KAILUA — Concern that commercial activity around Kailua Bay may be increasing has prompted the Kailua Neighborhood Board to take a stand against any additional business in the area pending an impact assessment.

Aidan Schmer and his wife, Mika, position a sailboard off Kailua Beach for their business, Kailua Sailboards & Kayaks Inc. The Kailua Neighborhood Board is growing increasingly concerned about rising commercial activity along the beach. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Neighborhood board votes are advisory only, but their decisions are considered by city and state agencies when considering licensing or approvals.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa said there has been no recent increase in business licenses for Kailua Beach Park, and the owner of one kayak rental company said commercial activity has been stable but has not risen.

"(Our business) doesn't have any more kayaks than we had five years ago," said Aidan Schmer, owner of Kailua Sailboards & Kayaks. "No, it's not growing. In fact, windsurfing has gone down to a trickle."

However, board members who supported the motion and many residents say bay use has increased and residents feel crowded out and vulnerable to unsafe conditions, in part because of increased commercial activity.

Kailua Beach Park has a reputation as one of the best beaches in the nation. With its fairly calm water, pristine sands and often good breezes, it is a haven for water sports enthusiasts, and commercial sports activity companies such as kayak and windsurfing rentals have sprung up in the area over the years to serve them.

The city has required a permit for commercial activities at Kailua Beach since 1989, when commercial windsurfing activities began to take hold. The Department of Parks and Recreation sets the regulations and issues the permits, said Costa.

For several years only two permits were issued. That number has increased gradually, and today, said Costa, five companies have permits for commercial activities at Kailua Beach: a food concessionaire, one kayak rental company and three windsurfing rental companies.

"At one time there were five permits out for windsurfing, but it was getting unmanageable," she said, and the number of permits was cut back.

Nevertheless, Kailua board member Terry Carroll said increased publicity about Kailua Beach has brought more users, and residents have complained that they can't swim, picnic or sunbathe without fear of being trampled.

Prior to the vote, Carroll called for a complete moratorium on all commercial activity until a carrying-capacity study is completed.

"Otherwise we'll have willy-nilly activities here and it will be open season for trouble and accidents," he said.

Board member Bob Vieira said he supported a study but not a ban on operations. The city may stop the commercial activities but people would continue to participate in the water sports without benefit of an instructor, Vieira said.

"I think the board in many instances has overstepped its bounds with regard to commercial activities in this town, and I'm dead set against it," he said.

Board members who opposed the final motion to recommend limiting business to present commercial operations said the board would be setting up a dangerous situation by limiting instruction from qualified commercial rental owners.

"It's better to have somebody commercial, who is responsible and who has insurance covering their actions and giving proper instructions," said board member Knud Lindgard.

The board's advisory opinion will now be forwarded to the city. The board also entertained a motion to ban kite surfing at the beach, but that failed 8-6 with three abstentions.

Board member George Gonsalves Jr. said the community has always opposed commercial activities at the beach.

"That's the message we keep hearing," Gonsalves said. "They don't even want to sell balloons on the beach."

It was the increasing popularity of kite surfing on Kailua Bay that helped bring crowding and safety issues to a head late last year.

The board decided to reassess beach activities when oceanfront property owners complained that kite surfing was resulting in trespassing on their property and interference with other beach activities.

Regular meetings were held with kite surfers, commercial operators, residents and city and state officials to iron out differences and create rules for kite surfing.

Costa said city parks director Bill Balfour is taking a close look at the dynamics at Kailua Beach Park and if kite surfing becomes a problem, the city will step in.

Schmer, of Kailua Sailboards & Kayaks, said today's kite surfers are yesterday's wind surfers, so the same people are using the beach. People's perception that the beach is crowded may be because of the fact that kite surfing equipment is so big and requires a lot of space to launch, he said.

"The biggest problem with kite surfing, why it seems so dominant, is because one person on a kite looks so huge," Schmer said. "So if you take 15 people it looks like the whole bay is covered."