Posted on: Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Federal lawsuit seeks ruling on Kaua'i beach access

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The owner of the Papa'a Bay Ranch has filed a lawsuit, seeking a ruling to establish that there is no public or government access across the property to the sandy beach at Papa'a on the northeast side of Kaua'i.

Some old maps show a public road to the edge of the beach, but others show the road ending at the mauka side of a coastal parcel owned by filmmaker Peter Guber's Mandalay Properties Hawaii LLC.

The suit has been filed in U.S. District Court.

Mayor Bryan Baptiste earlier this year announced that a public road access to the beach does exist. The county attorney's office commissioned a study of the access issue.

Mandalay attorney Paul Alston said: "There is no sound legal or factual basis for the county's claim to roadway access. In truth, the county's legal research does not even support the mayor's pronouncement. The notion that Papa'a Road extends to the beach is simply a fiction."

Deputy County Attorney Laurel Loo said the county is secure in its conclusion that the road is public. "The county will aggressively defend its position," Loo said.

Four protesters arguing for public access were arrested at the gate to the property on Dec. 28, 2003, and charged with trespassing. Three of those cases were dropped. The fourth person arrested pleaded no contest and was sentenced to community service and ordered to pay court costs.

Alston, on behalf of Mandalay, has also sued area resident William Young and the Island Access Coalition, saying their assertions that a public access exists "slandered the title."

Alston said he believes that the access issue stood in the way of sale of the Papa'a property earlier this year. "Someone who's able and willing to pay $40 million for a family compound wants some privacy," he said.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.