Updated at 2:52 p.m., Friday, January 25, 2008
Kahului Harbor 2030 Master Plan draws concern
By CHRIS HAMILTON
The Maui News
Initiated in response to crowding at the harbor, a draft environmental impact statement on the Kahului Harbor 2030 Master Plan was presented for public comment Wednesday – and drew strong objections from the public for whom the harbor is more than a commercial harbor.
The focus of the critics was the proposals that would convert the west breakwater into a dock for passenger vessels — impacting use of the Kahului small-boat ramp and requiring dredging and breakwater extensions that would be expected to eliminate most if not all of the surf sites within the harbor.
While the state Harbors Division still has not completed the Kahului Harbor 2025 Master Plan, work on the 2030 plan was begun to deal with issues that the 2025 plan — for which a final EIS was prepared — did not address.
About 100 people attended the public meeting at the Cameron Center on Wednesday to speak on the draft environmental impact statement for the 2030 plan. Nearly all the speakers spoke against the proposal.
Saying he is a Native Hawaiian, Foster Ampong went first and announced that he would set the tone for the evening.
"What is all this development for?" he asked. "Quite frankly, it serves corporate interests."
Ampong and others said that expanding the harbor does not promote long-term sustainability, it just aids unabated growth. A common solution offered by plan opponents was to move all the cruise ships to Lahaina or Ma'alaea Harbor, where they said that the tourists really want to be anyway.
Mike Formby, DOT deputy director for harbors, was at Wednesday's hearing and also recently introduced the plan to the Governor's Maui Community Advisory Council.
The main goal is to separate the cargo traffic from the passenger traffic, Formby said.
"It's just an accident waiting to happen," he said. "Both sides complain."
The 2030 plan proposes to separate passenger traffic from freight operations by expanding on the west breakwater, which now is used for the small-boat ramp and by fishermen. A $6 million project to upgrade the Kahului ramp and dredge the channel was completed in 2006.
But not included in the 2025 plan are facilities to accommodate the Hawaii Superferry, which the DOT initially allowed to sail with an exemption from state environmental reviews. Court decisions since the exemption was granted in 2004 are requiring an environmental impact statement specifically for Superferry operations in four state harbors.
Work on the 2030 master plan was initiated last year when it was clear that Kahului Harbor lacked the space to accommodate any further growth in traffic – including the Superferry. Hawaii Superferry took over a section of Pier 2 formerly used by Young Brothers. In response, Young Brothers said it would stop handling all small loads to Maui and Moloka'i — a decision that mostly affected small businesses on Maui.
When Young Brothers said it would only handle containers to Kahului because of the loss of space, Gov. Linda Lingle initiated a plan to acquire four acres under the Old Kahului Store and the old Kahului Railroad building for use by the freight company. Young Brothers agreed to continue less-than-containerload shipments to Kahului through 2010.
As part of the effort to move on the 2030 plan — for which the EIS has yet to be completed — Lingle last month proposed an $842 million program to modernize all of the state's major harbors over the next six years, with $345.1 million going to Kahului.
A statewide harbor users group representing the shipping companies supported the harbors plan.
For the public session Wednesday on the appropriateness of the 2030 plan for Maui, some people brought signs that said things such as "Maui not for sale 2 cruise ships."
Representatives from the Surfrider Foundation, Pacific Whale Foundation, Save Kahului Harbor and Kahului Harbor Coalition stood up against the draft EIS, for which a public comment period ends Feb. 28. Canoe paddlers and fishermen who regularly use the harbor were also against the plan that would provide docks on the west breakwater for cruise ships and Hawaii Superferry.
The 2030 master plan would
As Maui's only commercial harbor, Kahului is the third-busiest in the state. Kahului Harbor has had difficulty finding space to accommodate all the shipments it receives now. Lingle said that without expansion, Maui's cost of living will only continue to rise.
The island population already has grown 32 percent in the last 15 years. With even more people on the way, state projections for Kahului Harbor show a 93 percent increase by 2020.
Lingle said that the improvements will be paid for by issuing bonds to be repaid from harbor-user fees and rents.
EIS project manager John Kirkpatrick, a consultant with Belt Collins Hawaii Ltd., told the audience that its input is vital for deciding what the final plan will look like and received some support for the master plan.
"We should stop living in the past," said Wailuku resident Fred Ruge, who was one of the few, if only people, to speak in favor of the plan.
Ruge, a retiree who has been a frequent candidate for public office, also said there are plenty of other places to surf on Maui.
His comments drew guffaws. Surfers said they were very upset that they would lose the only protected surfing spot on the island's north side during the winter.
Some farmers said they feared that a bigger harbor would bring more invasive species to the island.
Environmentalists said more big-boat traffic, pollution and less habitat would further endanger green sea turtles, monk seals and humpback whales.
And members of the canoe clubs said the expansion would eliminate coveted race lanes for regattas.
"It's the one place we can safely operate in all weather conditions," said paddler Ray Glauser.
A number of people also took umbrage with the DOT referring to paddling, fishing and surfing as "recreational" activities in the draft EIS. To applause, Jan Roberson, of the 160-member Surfrider Foundation, said they are traditional Hawaiian practices that deserve special consideration.
A number of people also complained about the plan to build a dock for the Superferry, questioning whether it will even be in business in 2013.
On Thursday afternoon, one group of harbor regulars offered its regrets at the plan to remake the west breakwater – a 20-acre expanse of coral fill created to block the surge created by east and northwest swells. It had been designated as an extension of Keopuolani Park, but the property was turned back over to the state in 2005 after the county cleared a homeless village from the breakwater.
At the Hale Kiawe Senior Citizens Boat Club, President Pat DePonte lamented that if the 2030 plan moves forward, the club will lose its tidy open-air shack with a well-trimmed lawn and fishing rod holsters along the breakwall next to the boat ramp.
The Kahului boat ramp will get a new access channel and remain a state boating facility, but he wasn't certain where the old-timers could go, some of whom have been fishing off the breakwater for 50 years.
"So all this will gone," DePonte said as he stared out at the black outlines of rocks and occasional fish movements under the blue waters. "The thing is why do all this for private companies?"
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HARBOR PLAN
A public comment period for the draft environmental impact statement on the Kahului Harbor 2030 Master Plan runs through Feb. 28. Copies of the EIS can be found at local libraries or online at www.beltcollins.com/kahului.
Submit comments by mail to EIS project manager John Kirkpatrick, Belt Collins Hawaii Ltd., 2153 N. King St., Suite 200; Honolulu, HI 96819; send e-mail to jkirkpatrick@beltcollins.com; fax to 808-538-7819.
For more Maui news, visit The Maui News.
