Condo owners sue over vendors at Maui beach

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui Bureau

KA'ANAPALI, Maui — Two years after resort property owners went to court to get vendors off Ka'anapali Beach, the situation has grown more contentious and the beach more cluttered.

There are more vendors than ever plying the famous beach, and the conflict has emerged anew with a lawsuit filed last week by three condominium owners, as well as a battle over beach equipment rental sales in front of the Sheraton Maui at Black Rock.

On Friday, a suspicious fire destroyed $20,000 in beach equipment stored by one of the most assertive vendors. The incident is the most dramatic episode in the escalating confrontation between the beach factions.

"Things are getting hot on Ka'anapali Beach," said Mike Dollinger, a part-time Ka'anapali resident.

Dollinger, who owns a unit at the Ka'anapali Ali'i condominium, is among the residents of the upscale beach community who are unhappy with the proliferation of kayaks, surfboards, body boards, snorkels and other equipment sold and rented by the vendors in brightly colored tents. The vendors are allowed on the beach by state permit.

"It's sort of turning into Coney Island out there," he said.

Meanwhile, Gov. Linda Lingle is continuing to review a new set of Ka'anapali commercial activity rules approved by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources in March. The regulations are designed to tighten the rules and allow for better enforcement by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the agency that oversees the Ka'anapali coastal district.

Problems with enforcement prompted the Ka'anapali Beach Resort Association to file suit two years ago against two vendors and the state. The association said it was tired of enforcement officers saying their hands were tied by court rulings that required them to catch vendors in the act of verbally soliciting business.

But instead of banning the operations from the beach, Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza simply ordered the removal of signs that advertise their services.

The three condominium owners filed suit again, this time hoping to clear out a vendor camped out on the beach daily in front of The Whaler, a retail and residential complex.

Recently, the number of beach vendors has increased even more dramatically. Dave Flavin, owner of Maui Beach Club rentals, whose rental equipment was damaged in the Friday fire, said that he opened three additional rental spots on the beach in the past couple of months after a competitor expanded and began setting up near his tent. It was then he said he realized his permit doesn't restrict how many locations he can run.

Making things a bit more crowded in recent weeks is high surf that narrowed a large portion of the beach. That forced the operations to move even closer to each other, raising the level of tension.

At the same time, the proximity of one of Flavin's tents caused the Sheraton Maui to take what general manager Chip Bahouth called "defensive measures." The hotel, through its own vendor and with newly hired personnel, has set up competing operations on three sides of Flavin's tent.

David Stone, Flavin's employee at Black Rock, said the hotel is intercepting customers, committing what he described as an unfair business practice. He also said he's had to endure harassment that includes having the locks on his storage bin glued shut four times.

"I have to carry bolt cutters to work with me everyday," Stone said.

Bahouth denied that he or his employees damaged property. He said his "defensive measures" of setting up additional vending tables were necessary to protect the hotel's guests from what he described as occasionally shoddy equipment and the fact that some operations don't have enough insurance, among other things.

"Yes, we would like (the vendors) to go away. We don't want (the beach) to look like Waikiki," he said. "But if they're going to be here, there's got to be more regulation, more control."

On Friday came the fire, which authorities say was of suspicious origin. A wooden storage locker near the Westin Maui containing surfboards, kayaks and other beach equipment belonging to Maui Beach Club was burned.

Scotty Martin, a Maui Beach Club employee, said he didn't know how the fire started, but he acknowledged that not everyone appreciates their presence. That includes rival vendors, the hotels and the residents.

"It's the wild, wild west out here. It's gotten out of hand," he said, shaking his head. "They hurt us. But they aren't going to knock us down."

Reach Timothy Hurley in the Maui bureau at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.