The following editorial was published in The Molokai Dispatch on September 24, 2007.
http://www.themolokaidispatch.com/node/1155
John Sabas recently outlined the Molokai Property Limited’s (MPL) shoreline access plan for La’au, where MPL hopes to develop a 200-lot luxury subdivision. MPL is seeking “an exception to the mandated 1500′ beach access rule,” arguing that it will protect subsistence fishing. With only 2 public-access points, Sabas says, fishermen will be “forced to take home only what they can carry [on] the trail.”
Having only 2 public accesses points goes against existing law which “requires rights-of-way to be created where land fronting the shoreline is subdivided.” According to this law, MPL would be required to create 16 public access rights-of-way along the La`au Point development. The County “may” grant exceptions to this rule; however the law states that any exception “shall not differ substantially from that which would be required [for] standard rights-of-way.”
While it is conceivable that the required 16 access points could be whittled down to as little as 10, having only 2 would “differ substantially” from the normal requirement. There is also nothing preventing future litigation that could force additional accesses.
It is important to understand that this requirement for rights-of-way takes effect ONLY if MPL develops.
Without development, La`au’s shoreline access would simply remain as it is. The development wouldn’t CREATE access, because State law (HRS 115-1) already GUARANTEES public access to the sea and shorelines of La`au.
One of the reasons this law was created was to prevent “mounting acts of hostility against private shoreline properties,” by people who can’t easily access the beach. By allowing millionaire newcomers preferential access to the shoreline and making locals walk, MPL is indeed re-creating the very situation that the law was enacted to avoid. Read the rest of this entry »
