Musings: How Blatant

It was quiet, the way Furlough Fridays tend to be, when Koko and I went out walking this soft, still morning beneath solidly gray skies. En route a light rain began to fall, each drop visible in its descent, and still we kept on for a while, me enjoying the sensation of being watered like a plant, until we found a place that was dry beneath a thicket of shell ginger sheltered by ironwood trees and from there we watched and waited until it drifted off, perhaps to join the sheer curtain that had similarly descended over Haupu.

I got home and more rain arrived, along with an email from a friend that had a link to The Garden Island article about how a military helicopter — but of course, not one of PMRF’s or the RIMPAC gang, because “We take our environmental stewardship seriously,” says Commander Greg Hicks — had flown right over sea bird nesting areas at the Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge.

It was bad enough that the Fish and Wildlife Service spoke out about it. The chopper apparently hung around for 30 minutes, so it wasn’t just a fly by, and passed with 20 feet of the coastline, rather than the recommended 2,000 feet.

“How blatant,” my friend wrote.

Indeed. But that’s the way those guys are.

I was particularly intrigued by a comment that Fish and Wildlife spokesman Ken Foote made in the article:

Additionally, low-flying aircraft creates stress in adult birds and their chicks, which increases the “chance of exposure to the elements possibly resulting in injury or death,” Foote said.

Eggs and chicks can “fall of the face of cliffs” and “harassed birds” that “take off in flight are subject to air strikes which often result in death,” said Foote.

Yet day in and day out we allow tour helicopters to fly low over native bird nesting areas in Waimea, Kokee, Wailua — heck, all the interior areas — and they’ve been doing so for years. Do you suppose that just might have something to do with the steady decline and imperiled condition of too many of our native forest birds?

But at least one helicopter company claims its fuel-sucking, treetop-hovering, ear-splitting ways (and I can hear one now, flying over my neighborhood because the mountains are socked in with clouds) are ecofriendly:

A helicopter tour has less impact on the environment while giving you a unique perspective of the diversity of Hawaii. Help us preserve some of the world's most delicate ecosystems.

How blatant. But that’s the way those guys are.

We also have the paper reporting on this week’s meeting of the planning commission, which had four requests for nonconforming use permits for vacation rentals (TVRs) on its agenda. But none of the owners could be bothered to show up, or even send representatives. And one of the applicants, California resident James Christiansen, who has a TVR in Haena, also stood up the county inspector, which caused him to miss the March 30, 2009 deadline to apply for the permit.

How blatant. But that’s the way those guys are.

At least a few of the commissioners seemed to understand the crux of the matter:

“For them not showing up, when the inspectors were out there, to me that’s grounds for denial,” Commissioner Jan Kimura said.

”To me it seems that he’s taking this commission for granted,” Kimura said. “I feel this county had been taken advantage of.”

“How far do we have to bend over to be quote ‘fair?’ They’re not being fair with us,” [Hartwell] Blake said.

“If you’re applying, then you make it happen. If the inspectors are there, you better be there,” Blake said. “Don’t just not show.”

Yet with Deputy Planning Director Imai Aiu and Deputy County Attorney Ian Jung smooth-talking to smooth the way for Christainsen, commissioners couldn’t muster the fortitude to turn the guy down.

Instead, they deferred the matter until Aug. 10. But prior to voting, they found out the guy also hadn’t provided plans:

Planning Department Director Ian Costa did clarify that the plans are not part of the ordinance, but something the department requires as a policy.

“We couldn’t technically say it was an incomplete application,” he said.

Funny. Lack of plans did prompt the department to turn down one TVR owner I know, which kind of makes you wonder about selective enforcement and arbitrary decision-making.

How blatant. But that’s the way those guys are.

Meanwhile, as a photo in The Garden Island seems to indicate, Christiansen apparently is continuing to rent out his property, even though he’s not allowed to operate a TVR outside of a Visitor Destination Area without the extremely valuable special use permit that he couldn’t be bothered to show up to get.

How blatant. But like I said, that’s the way those guys are.