KAUAI—As plans proceed to fence a trail that runs across private land, the onus is falling on Kauai County to ensure that public access to Larsen’s Beach is maintained.
The issue has been smoldering for months on Kauai, revealing a deep mistrust of private landowners and the county, renewing long-standing concerns about the liability associated with beach access and raising questions about just how easy an access should be. Read the rest here.
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10 comments:
I hope Waioli doesn't provide lateral access. What's wrong with requiring some effort to get to the beach?
I find it interesting that there is no mention in your article of the time when locals were driving their trucks down the hill and using the lateral trail as a road to harvest and haul out Milo wood, among other things. Was a time when that part of the trail was literally a dirt road from the traffic. When they fenced off the top, these guys cut the fences, or drove thru them, and continued to use the trail this way until "whoever" finally used boulders and fence to keep them out. But I guess it is more effective to get your own way as a land owner if you are a member of the 3H Club and blame the Hippies, Haoles, and Homeless for the problems of any one area. Isn't this pretty much the same argument the fat home owners over Kauapea Beach used while they cut the illegal road to the beach and put the security guard in? We should stop this selective enforcement (and blame) and slap all offenders, including the land owners, or what's left of what we have now will become a mere rumor.
I remember all of this well. As I recall it was one of the many impetus for calling for the beach access bill, and we all fought very hard for that for just this reason. Since this ordinance is on the books, and there is a commission/committee appointed to look into such issues now, complaints should be addressed to them, and taken up at public hearings and then redressed through the county which can impose the force of the law. I also recall being concerned that the lack of enforcement, and low fines would do nothing to actually solve the issue of access. I went to every meeting and fought hard for one word to be carefully inserted into the legislation. "Shall", rather than "may". This one small word gives much more force to laws that we try to get passed to protect and preserve the peoples right to access their island. IF the law is not being applied equitably, then there should be further redress and complaints filed further along the line of enforcement and hierarchy. This selective enforcement, and purposeful denial of access is ripe for a lawsuit in court, or some good old fashioned protesting.
It's a common ruse to blame everything on hippies. I am not a hippie, but being around them on the beaches I have been to....they pose minimal environmental problems, are friendly to whites, and don't give me "stink eye". I have never had my car broken into by hippies.
Please leave the hippies alone!
They are people too....probably more conscious than those that leave diapers, old tires, and old cars on the beaches around the island
Are there hippies still living on
Kauai? Pretty sure they died out in th 1970's so do be kind to those left as they must now be in their 60's now and surly on the endangered species list.
Are there hippies still living on Kauai? Pretty sure they died out in th 1970's so do be kind to those left as they must now be in their 60's now and surly on the endangered species list.
Hardly endangered, but definitely surly.
Land "owners" need to realize that this is going to be a problem for them in Hawai'i and likely anywhere that there is an area that access has been occurring. My answer to the them is: GET OVER IT! They knew that they'd have access issues when they looked at the property before they bought it, and instead of looking elsewhere for their 4th,5th or ump-teenth home, they decided they can just buy the property and fight it because they have the money and time to do it.
I've been dealing with this on the big island for quite some time, and now that I'm on Kaua'i for a bit, I'll do just the same as I always have and walk right past the "security" guard, fence or whatever they put in the way...of course, it seems that the police are more like agents of the wealthy here on Kaua'i than they are on BI.
E ola ka pono sivila o ke kanaka!
"They knew that they'd have access issues when they looked at the property before they bought it"
-- it is certainly reasonable, especially if the buyer is sophisticated and well resourced, to hold their feet to the fire as to recorded easements etc. others here know this stuff better than i do, but i believe on kauai part of the problem had been that the county never "recorded" such items...and later the owner can fight it on this basis, claim they had no "notice" etc etc
relatedly, this complaint of owners crowing out the access paths with bushes etc seems to be pretty real
"it seems that the police are more like agents of the wealthy here on Kaua'i than they are on BI."
-- very interesting
mainland_mentaility
crowding*
I am a gay, nudist, non-Hawaiian Native American hapa-haole. I have been to Larsen's beach recently, and I can say almost certainly that there are other reasons besides selfishness, racism, homophobia and xenophobia to close the lateral path to that beach... as a matter of fact, I think it's imperative that the entirety of Larsen's beach be closed completely to humans for the foreseeable future.
Some things in life are more important than getting your buns tan...
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