Posted on: Saturday, March 12, 2005

Boaters allowed to keep slips at Ala Wai harbor

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Transient boaters and yacht club boaters alike left yesterday's Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting satisfied after they were told they would all get slips at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.

Richard Rice, Small Boat Harbors administrator for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, asked the land board to approve a revocable permit to allow berths in the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor to be reserved for 15 Waikiki Yacht Club boaters during a construction project expected to begin this month.

But Rice planned to evict eight boaters using the transients' dock to make room, a plan that the board rejected to the relief of boaters at the meeting who would have been forced to leave by Tuesday.

Jud Lohmeyer, who lives on a 42-foot boat moored in a transient slip, helped formed a group called the Displaced Boaters of Ala Wai Harbor which last month went to court to oppose the eviction. He said it has been a struggle to reach an agreement.

"We should have had this solution two months ago," Lohmeyer said. "The good thing is everyone is accommodated."

The yacht club is installing a new dock and has donated an old dock to the state. Rice said that dock will be used in the harbor where a dock was condemned last year. He said it would cost up to $40,000 to move and install it, but it would provide slips for as many as 45 boats and bring in about $60,000 in permit fees its first year.

The Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor has been deteriorating for decades, and concrete spalling and other problems have forced the state to condemn about 120 of the nearly 700 slips in the harbor. That has contributed to a years-long waiting list for a public berth. Several of the transient boaters are on that list.

Lohmeyer put up a large photo of the harbor showing 14 empty berths in the transient row. He asked why they were being told to leave when there are few other harbor options around the island and enough room for them all at Ala Wai.

Rice said after the yacht club boats move over, the harbor master would like to have a few spaces open in case other berths used by permanent harbor residents are condemned. Just last week four more berths met that fate, he said.

"We have an ongoing struggle with limited resources and a growing demand," he said.

Land board member Tim Johns said because the construction is only expected to take between 60 and 90 days the state should be able to have enough room for both the yacht club and transient boaters.

"I believe it can accommodate everyone," Johns said. "Why have this as a battle?"

The board voted to accept the donated dock and approved the revocable permit with the requirement that the harbor accommodate as many of the transient boaters as possible.

Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.