The County Council has been asked to initiate impeachment proceedings against Mayor Maryanne Kusaka for allegedly allowing unpermitted cutting of trees and removal of vegetation in late April at a new county park near Donkey Beach. “If you are an
The County Council has been asked to initiate impeachment proceedings against Mayor Maryanne Kusaka for allegedly allowing unpermitted cutting of trees and removal of vegetation in late April at a new county park near Donkey Beach.
“If you are an elected official, you do wrong, you go,” said Richard Stauber, who filed the complaint.
The Council received Stauber’s request at a recent meeting, but it is not known if any action was taken. But one council member, Stauber said, told him to hire a private attorney to settle the dispute.
The county contends no illegal or unpermitted work was done and a quick response by Kusaka’s administration makes it unnecessary for the county to obtain an after-the-fact permit.
The response involves the posting of signs and marking off a burial area located where the grubbing occurred to prevent intrusion by vehicles.
The county’s public information officer, Beth Tokioka, speaking for Kusaka, said “Richard can take his complaint to the Council, but we doing what we have been told (by government agencies) to do to rectify the situation.”
Late this week, Kusaka also apologized for the clearing of vegetation near ancient Hawaiian burial sites by the beach.
The work was done within the 60 acres of beachfront property makai of Donkey Beach the developers of the Kealia Kai luxury subdivision recently deeded to the county. The “gift” provides additional recreational space for use by residents and visitors.
The outcome of the dispute over whether permits are required for work at the beach takes on special meaning for Stauber.
Stauber is a German national but claims residency status in Hawai’i because he has lived on Kaua’i for nine years.
“But you never know. I see myself facing deportation because of my criticism,” Stauber said. “But I don’t care anymore. What she did was wrong.”
On a visit to the beach on April 24, Stauber said he saw Kealia Kai employees cut down trees within a 50 foot by 16 foot area on the southern edge of the beach.
But the workers did the work without first obtaining a shoreline management area permit from the county Planning Department or a Conservation District Use Application permit from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Stauber contended.
Stauber said that after he called the police to file a complaint, responding officers told him they would talk with the work supervisor on the beach that day.
The workers allegedly continued working on April 25, but were removed by police April 26, Stauber said. “If the police didn’t kick them out, they would be still down there cutting,” he said.
Before the work got under way, County Planning Director Dee Crowell said Kusaka consulted him on the type of permits that would be required. Crowell said none was needed for the trimming of trees.
Problems arose, however, when Bobcat machinery, apparently manned by county volunteers, removed naupaka vegetation to get to the trees that had been trimmed, Crowell said.
The removal of the naupaka vegetation amounted to grubbing, requiring a county permit, Crowell said.
And the workers compounded the situation by clearing the plants in an area where ancient Hawaiian burial sites are located, Crowell said.
“I don’t think anything was unearthed, but what the work that was done was of concern to the DLNR,” Crowell said.
Nancy McMahon of the DLNR Historic Preservation Division office on Kaua’i, surveyed the work and found no burials disturbed, Crowell said.
Late this week, Kusaka apologized for the inadvertent clearing of shrubs in a culturally sensitive area near a trail leading to Donkey Beach, also known as Paliku Beach.
The county took full responsibility for the “mistake,” Kusaka was quoted as saying, and the county will work with DLNR and the Kaua’i Burial Council to correct the problem and to secure the area.
Tokioka said “a plan of action” will be undertaken “that will primarily address the concern not to disturb the site again.” It includes posting of signs and marking the area to prevent vehicles from getting to the area, Tokioka and Crowell said.
Crowell said his department will not require the county to obtain an after-the-fact permit or pursue punitive measures because “our department policy is to get compliance to make things right. It was a fixable situation, not irreparable damage.”
Stauber said if future unpermitted work is done at the beach, he will seek out the help of the federal government or the state attorney general office.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
