Beachgoers unhappy with access proposal

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

HAWAI'I KAI — Nearly five years of debate hasn't settled the issue of public access to a popular surfing and fishing spot on Portlock Road.

Jim Mackey and his family from San Diego walk past a sign at Jay Fries' driveway just yards from the gate at the public access way to the beach at 377 Portlock Road in Hawai'i Kai that explains Fries' position on beach access. Under a proposed agreement, the gate would remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

City Council members and access advocates say tradition and state-guaranteed public access to the shoreline prohibit such restrictions, and that the locked gate would be a bad precedent.

However, private landowners — not the city or state — own some of what are considered public beach access paths, particularly along Portlock Road, and the public uses them through landowners' implied consent .

In the Portlock case, Bert Dohmen-Ramirez, one of three residents who own the pathway to the beach, has said he doesn't want to deprive anyone of access, but he doesn't want people walking past his home on his property. He cites noise and safety concerns.

"It's still private property," said Dohmen-Ramirez, and there are other access paths nearby. "My three little children are terrorized. All we want is security."

But access advocates were upset at the deal that would allow city parks employees to lock a gate on the path from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

"I was livid about this when I heard," said Charlie Rodgers, chairman of the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board. "How many times do we have to tell the city that this board does not believe in locking things up?"

City attorneys agreed that a gate on the path would be locked for 12 hours a day, and Dohmen-Ramirez agreed not to sue and to drop a request for $800,000 for his share of the land.

What comes next is unclear.

Public access to the beaches "is a problem all over the island," said deputy fire chief John Clark, author of the "Beaches of Hawai'i" series of books.

Of 18 accessways on Portlock Road, four might be considered public rights of way, according to a 1990 state study. And it is unclear which ones are public, said Curt Cottrell, Na Ala Hele program director, a division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Access is assured only in housing developments built after 1973, the year legislators approved laws governing access to the mountains and the shoreline, Cottrell said. The city is in charge of seeing to it that developers adhere to the law when they obtain permits, he said.

	Beach access
	State and city officials don't keep precise statistics on the number of public beach paths for all islands. But according to state and city surveys, here's how accessways in East Honolulu stack up:
•	Portlock Road: 14 beach accessways are for residents only; 4 others may — or may not — be public.
•	Hawai'i Kai: The city owns five accessways here, Hanapepe Loop, Kalaniana'ole Highway, Koke'e Place, Hanapepe Place and on Lumahai Street, according to a Department of Parks and Recreation Index of O'ahu Parks and Facilities.
•	Kahala: The city owns seven right of ways to the beach, according to the index.
•	More on the way: City officials plan to develop eight new paths, on Portlock Road and in Punalu'u, Kahalu'u and the Kaunala Beach subdivision near Velzyland on the North Shore.
•	Public meeting: The Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board will discuss the Portlock issue at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 at Haha'ione Elementary School cafeteria.

For as long as anyone can remember, fishermen and surfers have used the six-foot-wide pathway on Portlock Road. Dohmen-Ramirez has lived in the area for 20 years, but as the beach's popularity increased, he began to complain about noise and concerns for his family's safety.

The city took a stand for access, and the situation became a standoff that has at times turned ugly, first with the gate erected, then a lock mysteriously showing up on it. That led to a face-to-face confrontation between Dohmen-Ramirez and City Councilman Jon Yoshimura, who came with a locksmith, only to find the lock had vanished. Recently, a large truck was pulled so close to the gate that people could squeeze by to get to the beach, but barely.

"As far as I'm concerned, No. 1, there should not be a gate to any public beach," Yoshimura said.

Dohmen-Ramirez said if the public can use accessways on either side of his property. However, those accessways lead to rocks during high tide.

A regular at Seconds, surfer Wayne Fujihara, said the city is letting one property owner dictate to the entire community when it can go to the beach. Fujihara said other areas in the community that are popular for fishing and surfing are closed during the evening, but no gates are used, just signs indicating the hours.

Winston Wong, a city attorney, said the proposed agreement was just a way to stop costly lawsuits. Dohmen-Ramirez has sued his neighbor and Yoshimura and has indicated to the city that he would pursue his position against condemnation in the courts.

Jay Freis, one of the other two property owners, has always said he favored the accessway being open.

"That kind of time frame is unfortunate because a lot of fisherman and surfers go down there before 7 a.m.," said Freis, referring to the hours the gate would be locked.

For City Councilman John Henry Felix, it's more than about details.

"I hold the public right of way to our beaches sacrosanct," Felix said. "I am not pleased with the outcome of the settlement."

Reach Suzanne Roig at 395-8831 or sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.