Windward area residents, boaters and others are at odds over a move to establish Ahu o Laka, a 3-acre patch of sand known as the Kane'ohe Bay Sandbar, as a state monument.

Some believe the site to be sacred and maintain that large parties and unregulated concerts that occur there on weekends are sacrilege. Others, however, fear access may be shut off to a popular recreational area.

Accessible by boat, Ahu o Laka is exposed only during low tide.

Two House committees — Water, Land and Ocean Resources and Hawaiian Affairs — yesterday approved a bill establishing Ahu o Laka as a state monument. Senate Bill 2004 directs the Department of Land and Natural Resources to begin making rules for the protection and maintenance of the site.

Ahu o Laka is the Hawaiian for "Altar of Laka." Kawaikapuokalani K. Hewett said he is a descendant of Laka, an O'ahu chief who was taken to the site to die and be buried. "This is not a playground," Hewett said.

Others believe the site was named after a different Laka, the ancient Hawaiian goddess of hula.

Leialoha "Rocky" Kaluhiwa, whose family has lived in the He'eia Kea area for generations, called instances in which people at the site used it as a restroom disrespectful and unsanitary. Kaluhiwa also spoke of the careless and sometimes drunken manner of those attending makeshift concerts at the sandbar. Some in a drunken stupor have injured themselves while others have been hurt during fights, she said.

But Sandra Kalahiki, who has been going to the sandbar since she was 8 years old, said those who use the area police themselves. Stories of drunken revelry are greatly exaggerated, she said. Like others who oppose the bill, Kalahiki is worried that access to Ahu o Laka will be curtailed by rules.

Kane'ohe resident Lee Will-iams said the history of the sandbar is inconclusive, noting that in addition to confusion over which Laka is honored at the site, there is a dispute over whether Chief Laka was buried there. Based on that conflicting information, he said, the state is contemplating limiting access to "the most perfect family spot in Kane'ohe Bay."

Robert Masuda, DLNR deputy director, said the public rulemaking process will decide what activities will be allowed.

Masuda said there is no intent to prohibit people from picnicking on Ahu o Laka. However, he said, some rules need to be instituted to curtail excessive behavior.

Reports that the DLNR has jurisdiction over the site are incorrect, he said. "There have not been rules that regulate those large events with hundreds of people."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.