More than 150 boaters and fishers descended on Mililani High School Cafeteria yesterday to air their extreme displeasure about the closing of the Ko Olina boat ramp last February.

Since that time they've been told to use an alternative boat launch, Phoenician LLC Inc., five miles away off Malakole Road in Campbell Industrial Park, which boaters say is not only inferior, but unsafe and unusable.

Signs scattered around the lunch room spelled out the story:

"We Want Public Access Again," "Reopen Ko Olina Boat Ramp," "Phoenician Ramp Is Dangerous."

Prior to the opening of the Ko Olina Resort in the 1990s there was no public access to waters off Kalaeloa Harbor. To get the zoning changes needed to build the marina, the developer agreed to allow public access to the marina's boat ramp.

"All we want to do is tie up our boats and go fishing," said 'Ewa Beach fisherman Robert Young, who echoed the sentiments of most at the meeting who said they wouldn't use the Phoenician launch because it's not safe.

However, Ko Olina management — which has changed hands since the resort opened — maintains that its ramp deal was never intended to be permanent. It says the launch was a private ramp that allowed public access for a limited time.

When the resort recently began its marina expansion project, Ko Olina helped finance and facilitate the building of the Phoenician ramp as an alternative.

Mike Nelson, director of marketing at Ko Olina's Resort and Marina, took the brunt of boater's ire yesterday. He said Ko Olina shut down its ramp only when the privately owned Phoenician said its slip was ready to operate.

Boaters, however, insist that the Phoenician ramp — which is actually a restructured haulout slip used for lifting boats from water and moving them to an adjoining repair yard — is virtually impossible to use.

Initially, the Phoenician slip had a small, unstriped parking lot, restrooms with incomplete fixtures, and no wash-down. In March, Barry Fukunaga, state deputy director of harbors, sent Phoenician a letter to cease and desist using its haulout slip as a boat launch.

Phoenician has since completed its restrooms, striped its parking area, put in a wash down and made some improvements to the launch ramp.

In early June, Fukunaga acknowledged the changes and allowed Phoenician to commence its launch activities, subject to monitoring, evaluation and possible additional adjustment requirements made by the state.

Boater Stephen Lee, one of the meeting organizers, said he took one look at the Phoenician slip and decided never to use it.

"I won't even try to launch from there," he said. "It's not even a boat launch."

Carroll Cox, president of the non-profit watchdog agency EnviroWatch, spoke on behalf of the boaters. He said the controversy is an example of government's failure to respond to the concerns of the people.

"We believe that the Ko Olina boat ramp was improperly closed," said Cox, who criticized both Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Gov. Linda Lingle for not attending the meeting or sending a representative.

Not only is the Phoenician ramp unsafe, said Cox, but it's not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and is additionally hazardous because it's directly next to a liquid petroleum facility.

Following the meeting, David Tanoue, deputy director of the City Department of Planning and Permitting, issued a statement saying, "We are satisfied that Ko Olina is in compliance with the access master plan."

That plan, said Tanoue, included a provision that said: "At such time that the substitute launch ramp is constructed and opened to the public, Ko Olina Companies shall have the right to permanently close its boat ramp or limit its use to resort guests."

City Council Chair Donovan Dela Cruz, who was at the meeting, told the boaters the council would look over the agreements involved and evaluate them.

And Nelson, who conceded the alternative ramp leaves much to be desired, promised to work with Phoenician to make that launch safer and usable.