Hanauma tourist fee stands
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a Hawai'i judge's decision that charging non-residents a fee at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is legal and serves a significant public interest.
By upholding the admissions policy, the court stated that the fees also meets constitutional requirements.
The ruling disappointed Jim Bickerton, the attorney representing the California woman who challenged the fee.
"We feel the Hanauma Bay fees violate the federal commerce clause, so we'll be pursuing that theory in another lawsuit in the lower court," Bickerton said. He called going to the beach in Hawai'i "a fundamental right."
The federal commerce clause prohibits states from erecting barriers, such as fees to use public parks, based on residency requirements, Bickerton said. The lawsuit was filed in July 2001 on behalf of Carol Daly, who said the Hanauma admission fee violated the U.S. Constitution by unjustly discriminating against people on the basis of their residency.
U.S. District Judge Alan Kay ruled that the fee was not to make a profit at one of the premier snorkeling spots in Hawai'i, but to help defray expenses. Kay ruled that Hawai'i residents essentially underwrite the costs of operating the park in the form of taxes and it's appropriate to exempt them from an admission fee.
Kay, however, said that all the money collected from the fees must be applied toward Hanauma Bay and that the city cannot spend it on other parks.
"We feel vindicated," Mayor Jeremy Harris said in a written statement yesterday. "There has been an incredible effort to stop this project when all we have wanted to do was to protect this natural wonder for generations to come."
Bickerton said he saw the fee as part of a larger issue that opened the door to the city charging entry fees at other beach parks.
The city began charging $5 to every non-resident in 2003; previously the entrance fee was $3. And since 2002 all visitors, resident or tourist, must watch an educational video before they are allowed on the beach. These efforts were put in place as a way to educate the public about the fragile ecosystem in the nature preserve.
"I'm pleased because it reaffirms what we've been saying all along: The money earned at the bay should stay at the bay," said John Norris, Friends of Hanauma Bay chairman.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
Correction: U.S. District Judge Alan Kay ruled in 2002 that the city can charge nonresidents a fee to visit Hanauma Bay. Kay's title was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
