Kaua'i road ownership disputed
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Four Kaua'i community activists face trespass charges and a fifth is battling a federal lawsuit by Hollywood movie mogul Peter Guber over public access to the beach at Papa'a.
The coastline is an east-facing crescent of white sand with deepwater swimming to the south and a reef area to the north. A small stream flows in at the north end.
At issue is whether Papa'a Road, sometimes called Papa'a Beach Road, stops at Guber's Papa'a Bay Ranch property line or continues to the beach. Some maps show the road extending near the shore; others show the road stopping at the property line.
To add to the confusion, 5th Circuit Court files on the 1932 partition of a neighboring property contain two maps, nearly identical, both by surveyor R.M. Towill, one of which shows the road stopping at the property line, and the other showing it continuing into the property now owned by Guber.
Mayor Bryan Baptiste has ordered a title search to determine whether the road alignment through Guber's property is a government road.
Deputy Prosecutor Craig DeCosta said the outcome of trespass charges against four activists could be determined by the outcome of that title search. DeCosta said police were acting on the best information they had at the time, which was that Guber's Mandalay Properties owned the road.
The Dec. 28 arrests followed the arrival of an estimated 60 people at the ranch gate, ostensibly for a "Papa'a Beach Access Celebration." They were met by more than a dozen police officers.
Evelyn DeBuhr, David Denson, Kaiulani Edens and Liko Martin were arrested after several of the people attempted to pass Guber's gate across the road. All four pleaded not guilty in a Lihu'e District Court hearing yesterday. Attorneys for the four said they plan to aggressively defend the case on several grounds, one of which will argue that it's a public road.
There is no question the road into the Guber property to near Papa'a Beach has existed for many years. The question is whether the public has a right of access to it.
The road appears on U.S. Geological Survey maps as an unimproved dirt road, with no indication of ownership. County property maps do not show the road as a separate land parcel in county ownership or as a public easement. But the 1978 General Highway Map for the county, prepared by the state and federal Departments of Transportation, shows it as a government road.
Guber attorney Paul Alston said there is no question the property is owned entirely by Mandalay Properties. In a federal lawsuit filed against 'Aliomanu resident William Young and the Island Access Coalition, Alston asserts there is no public beach access road at Papa'a.
"A land title survey map and surveyor's report ... show that a government road, known as Papa'a Road, ends at the mauka boundary of the ranch ... There are no government records establishing the existence of a government access road extending across the ranch to Papa'a Bay beach," Alston said in the suit.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
