LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County Councilmember Mel Rapozo yesterday recommended the county cite a Kaua‘i landscaper and rancher for having cleared three acres of hillside in Kealia without first obtaining a county grading permit.
During a council meeting at the historic County Building, Rapozo said Bruce Laymon’s decision to clear the land without a permit, and then to ask the East Kauai Soil and Water Conservation District board to consider including the acreage in a conservation plan the board had approved for 2,011 acres on May 14, 2002, would go against a government law.
Laymon has asked the East Kauai board for clarification on whether the three-acre parcel was included in the approved plan.
Rapozo said the violation is clear, in his mind, and that it would be pointless to have the matter be sent to the board for reconsideration.
Kaua‘i attorney Lorna Nishi-mitsu represented the landowners, Kealia Plantation Company, for whom Laymon submitted the plan to the East Kauai District for consideration.
Nishimitsu said Laymon, owner of Paradise Ranch, felt it was appropriate to clear the three acres because of the approval of the conservation plan by East Kauai board.
Nishimitsu said it was her understanding the board’s approval of the plan, or a written approval of the plan, provided Laymon with an automatic exemption to the county grabbing, grubbing and stockpiling law.
Councilman Jay Furfaro and other council members said their reading of the ordinance required Laymon to send to the county written confirmation of the exemption before the land could be cleared.
Councilwoman JoAnn Yuki-mura and other council members wondered why Wallace Kudo, an official with the county Public Works Department, didn’t halt the work sooner after a department employee was unable to find paperwork to substantiate the exemption Laymon felt he had.
With most of the land cleared and exposed, significant environmental damage could have occurred during heavy storms, Yukimura said.
Since halting the work in mid-August, Laymon has started the re-vegetation of the hillside and has implemented other mitigative precautions, Kudo said. Laymon had his work crew neatly stack debris on the property during the cleanup.
Kudo indicated that he had followed department procedures in investigating the alleged case of un-permitted grubbing. His investigators visited the site three times this month, and had halted work twice.
Gaps between halting the work occurred partly because his department staffers had no record of the grading exemption for the small parcel, and had to spend time contacting East Kauai board representatives for clarification.
Yukimura and Furfaro praised Kealia resident Rayne Regush for having alerted county officials about the grubbing activity earlier this month.
The parcel is owned by Kealia Plantation Company LCC, but has been leased to Laymon and others for ranching and agricultural uses.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net, or 245-3681, ext. 225.
