Posted on: Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Hundreds speak against fee hikes for small boat harbors

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

A proposal to raise fees at Hawai'i's small boat harbors drew a broadside of opposition from several hundred boaters who attended hearings across the state over the weekend.

The largest crowd of more than 200 people attended a hearing Saturday at Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki. Many were Ala Wai Yacht Harbor boat owners facing an annual slip-fee hike of 185 percent.

Under the proposal by the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, the Ala Wai would see the largest mooring fee increase. Fees at Lahaina Harbor would double, while fees at the other recreational harbors would jump 35 percent. Lesser fee increases are proposed over five subsequent years.

A number of boaters also spoke out against the proposed increase in fees, from $25 to $120, for ramp use by boats brought in on trailers.

The fee increases are part of a comprehensive rule change proposal that aims, among other things, to collect an additional

$3 million a year for improvements and maintenance of public boating facilities. The state's marinas are said to need more than $130 million in repairs.

Carol She, boating regulation planner, said the division would take information gathered at the hearings to decide whether any of the proposed rules need changing. Any substantive changes made will be set aside for more hearings, she said. The rest of the rules are tentatively set to go before the Board of Land and Natural Resources for adoption by November.

While many speakers agreed that some type of fee increase is needed to help the state harbors, the Ala Wai and Lahaina boaters said they were being hit too hard.

Kate Thompson, co-owner of a boat moored at the Ala Wai harbor, said the slip fee would increase from $200 to about $500 under the state's proposal. "It's very scary that someone can come in and triple your fee,'' she said. "It makes you go, 'How long can I do this?' "

Thompson, who is staff commodore of the Hawai'i Women's Yacht Racing team, said a lot of boaters don't trust the boating division to use the money wisely. State audits have described slipshod accounting practices, she said, and at least two harbor officials have been convicted of theft.

"Until they can tell me where the fees are going, I don't want to pay that kind of money,'' she said.

Greg Howeth, president of Lahaina Divers Inc., said many boaters support fee increases to help pay for harbor improvements. But he said the Ala Wai and Lahaina boaters would be charged too much. Moderate, across-the-board increases would be more palatable, he said.

Howeth, who is also president of the Ocean Tourism Coalition, praised state boating officials for meeting with commercial users before the rules went before the public.