State closes deal with owners of illegal piers
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KANE'OHE — A four-year process to legalize more than 200 unauthorized piers in Kane'ohe Bay is drawing to a close as the majority of owners in a state amnesty program have agreed, either by default or consent, to the state's method of determining lease rent for submerged land.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
The agreement will mean a one-time lease-rent payment of as much as $10,000 for some owners for a 55-year lease.
Alvin Maeda has decided to pay to have the land under his pier appraised, because he believes the state formula sets the value too high.
Owners responding by the March 29 deadline under the Kane'ohe Bay Piers Amnesty Program agreed the value of submerged land per square foot be set at half the value of adjacent property.
Determining the value of the submerged land has been controversial. While the land board has not changed the way it will appraise that land, it has agreed to hire an independent appraiser, at the owners' expense.
Only one owner will seek a different method to appraise the submerged land, according to the state.
"The positive response to participating in the amnesty program has been more than we expected," said Dede Mamiya, land division administrator.
Pier owners estimate they'll each pay $3,500 to $10,000, depending on the length of the pier and value of abutting property.
Alvin Maeda, acting chairman of the Save Our Shoreline Ohana group of pier owners, said the state's method overestimates the value of the submerged land.
Maeda will get an independent appraisal, which he believes will be worth the cost because the submerged land, he said, is worthless. But he is having difficulty finding records on which to base an appraisal.
"They can't get it on submerged land because nobody is buying submerged land," Maeda said.
Unauthorized piers — those that lack DLNR permits — have existed in Kane'ohe Bay for decades. About 20 have permits and their owners pay lease rent.
If the owner of an unauthorized pier does not obtain a lease, the state will remove the pier at the owner's expense if the owner built the pier.
Under the amnesty program, the state incurs the major cost of obtaining the permits and an environmental assessment, a process that could run to $30,000 per individual, not including the lease rent, officials said.
Of the 233 cases identified by DLNR, 163 owners said they would join the program, Mamiya said.
Fifty-two owners claim their piers are not on state land, no longer exist, will be removed or are covered by other permits.
An additional 18 pier owners never responded to an invitation to join the program, she said, two of whom have other permits covering their piers.
Sixty-seven pier owners agreed by the March 29 deadline to use the state's appraisal method. Those who did not reply had been warned they would be included automatically.
The land board has set a July 13 deadline for pier owners to execute a lease with the state, but some owners say that is not realistic if they are to get a required survey of their property and pier.
The owners are trying to consolidate their surveys to cut costs, but one surveyor cannot do all the properties and meet the deadline, said Patty Yamashiro-Hironaka of the Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board and the Protect Our Shoreline Ohana.
"They're not making it easy for us," she said. "The Legislature gave them a deadline of 2005 (to complete the process), but they want us to get it done by July."
Maeda and other pier owners said they don't object to paying a reasonable lease, and the 55-year lease is a good deal.
Maeda said he just questions the value of the submerged land he'll be leasing, and the deadline.
"Some want to fight, but the last thing we want to do is go to court, because I feel going to court is like suing my own self," Maeda said. "But the way the state is operating, we may have to."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
