Fight there similar to Donkey Beach issue There were whispers in the past few weeks from Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s administration that the rush for Kaua’i County to accept a proposed deed for 50 acres of beachfront, including Donkey Beach, from
Fight there similar to Donkey Beach issue
There were whispers in the past few weeks from Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s administration that the rush for Kaua’i County to accept a proposed deed for 50 acres of beachfront, including Donkey Beach, from a developer, was to avoid discussions with a “new” owner.
Kusaka and developers Justin and Michele Hughes were friendly, and talks with the administration were fruitful.
The mayor recommended two weeks ago that the council accept the “deeded gift” from the developers of Kealia Makai subdivision, a planned group of estate homes on the bluffs above Donkey Beach.
But the last two weeks, community and County Council resistance stalled the “gift.” The sticking-point was private security on the public’s beachfront park.
And what the administration evidently knew that the public didn’t was that the Hughes were stepping away from the housing project and the rest of the beachfront that was supposed to be deeded to the county.
Now the deal, if there is one, must go through Thomas McCloskey, a Colorado businessman with a home on Kaua’i.
The “deed” for Donkey Beach is back on the agenda of the council today, and county officials are making hopeful sounds on the record.
But no one is certain what will happen, because McCloskey’s track record on public access near his property is not pro-access back in Colorado or on Kaua’i.
According to the Aspen (Colo.) Times, McCloskey tried to close access to public land near Aspen not long after buying property in the area.
“Legal issues aside, they (Tom and Bonnie McCloskey) were widely perceived as breaking a sacred code of a mountain town — shutting off locals from an historic access to the backcountry for their personal gain,” Times staff writer Scott Condon wrote in a Dec. 6, 1999 article.
In Aspen, according to the Times, the McCloskeys shut access on the popular north trail and built their house “virtually on top of it.” What followed was a 10-year legal battle.
According to a recent story by Times reporter Janet Urquhart, “The McCloskeys built a trail along a stretch of the Red Mountain Ditch as it crosses their property … with hopes of diverting the public off the north road (the old trail) where it passes their home.”
The new road would provide continued access to the Hunter Creek Valley if the McCloskeys “are successful in their ongoing effort to divert users from the existing public road,” Urquhart wrote.
On Kaua’i, McCloskey purchased the old Ryan Ranch near Moloaa Bay in May 1998. Then, according to representatives of the Na Ala Hele Trails Advisory Council, McCloskey closed a trail on his property.
Kusaka’s chief assistant, Wally Rezentes Sr., was unable to say what, if anything, had changed in the Moloaa Bay dispute in the intervening years.
“I’m not aware of any complaints lately, which doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t still turning them away,” said county planning director Dee Crowell.
Crowell said McCloskey sought a county permit “a while ago” to revegetate the slope on his property. Crowell said when McCloskey was told public access would be required, the matter was dropped.
Activists on the North Shore were unable to state definitively whether the trail had been reopened for public use. But Rezentes said he had been in contact with McCloskey about the Kealia Makai subdivision matter.
Today, the issue of a deeded beachfront is again before council at a 1 p.m. meeting. “I don’t know what the ultimate decision will be. It depends on the council and Mr. McCloskey,” Rezentes said.
John O’Carroll, one of McCloskey’s partners in Kealia Plantations Co.’s Makai Holdings, wouldn’t comment about the discussions.
When asked about McCloskey’s seeming history of problems with established accesses and his private holdings, O’Carroll, who said he also owns property in Aspen, said he was unaware of the 10-year lawsuit over the Hunter Creek access his partner has been involved in.
McCloskey is the co-founder and chairman of Cornerstone Equities and a founding partner of Cornerstone Ventures. He has served as a general partner in more than 50 partnerships and is a chairman or director of eight companies.
McCloskey studied business at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Wharton is regarded as one of the country’s premier business schools.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
