While three Kaua‘i residents charged in December with trespassing through a disputed beach access at Papa‘a Bay had their charges dismissed earlier this month, an ‘Aliomanu resident still faces a federal lawsuit related in part to the incident. Federal Judge
While three Kaua‘i residents charged in December with trespassing through a disputed beach access at Papa‘a Bay had their charges dismissed earlier this month, an ‘Aliomanu resident still faces a federal lawsuit related in part to the incident.
Federal Judge David Ezra recently denied ‘Aliomanu resident William “Bill” Young’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, filed against him by attorneys for Mandalay Properties.
Along with the as-yet-unspecified amount, believed to be around $100,000, Mandalay Properties and its sole member, Peter Guber, also seek a declaratory judgment that would determine there is no public beach-access road across “Tara,” his compound north of Anahola.
Young, an ‘Aliomanu homeowner and the only defendant named in the suit thus far, believes that a decision against him will have long-reaching consequences all over the state, setting precedent against the public’s right to beach access.
“If (there’s) a public road to a public beach, I would think that there would be access,” Young said. “No road leads to the sand. There’s always (private) space between a public road and a public beach.
“Who’s to say that a landowner cannot put up a huge fence between the road and the beach? It’s his land,” Young continued.
“The county has never claimed there is a government road to the beach,” said Guber’s attorney, Paul Alston. “This (lawsuit) really is about slandering the title and organizing of the mass trespass.”
But the lawsuit specifically asks that a declaratory judgment be made that there is no beach access across Guber’s Papa‘a Bay Ranch, and that “defendants and other third parties have no right to go upon the ranch.”
Young, who has been without an attorney since the lawsuit’s filing in January, is “hopefully optimistic” that he will have a lawyer within the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, “I’m spending about half of my time on case-related matters,” Young stated. Between learning the specific facts of his case, he has had to write up his own motions, including a motion to dismiss, which was denied April 2.
He also may be facing millions of dollars in fines.
Alston claimed that the punitive damages would be requested using the formula that every day the sale of Tara is delayed, Young would be liable for the interest not collected.
Since the land is being offered for roughly $40 million, Alston said the interest not being collected makes Young liable for $80,000 a week, or $4.2 million a year.
But Young claims that the entire issue should have been decided years ago by the state or the county.
He cited the allocation of funds by the Kaua‘i County Council in 2001 for beach access, which was never used.
“The county and state have to establish an answer,” Young continued. “They have to make the decision. It should’ve been solved by 2002.
“The county and state are not stepping up to the plate and doing what needs to be done to protect citizens’ rights,” he said, adding that private citizens then have to step up.
With the situation at Papa‘a, Young said that the other access, which is from the south side, through ‘Aliomanu, is not only more difficult, it traverses across private property as well.
“The landowner is sort of ignoring it for the time being,” he said. “It’s only a question of time.”
The county, which has funded a Big Island attorney’s title research on the disputed road, also has begun a search for an island access specialist, who would work in the Planning Department.
But Alston said that he met with county attorneys in December, and they would not claim the disputed road is owned by the government.
Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste has refused to take sides in the matter, saying he’ll wait for the Big Island attorney’s decision.
Before the beach-access celebration, Baptiste said that he could neither condone nor condemn the access. He also told council members in January he had taken no position on the beach-access issue.
Asked whether the completion of the title research would have any effect on his case, Young said, “We don’t know until (it) comes back. I thought I was acting in good faith and through the legal side of things,” whatever the result of the county’s action.
“I’m the person out there right now, and I’m going to stay that way,” Young said. “I’m just a member of a community group trying to get beach-access rights.”
Other Kaua‘i residents have asked to be named in the lawsuit. Two of those charged with trespassing at the Dec. 28 celebration, Ka‘iulani Edens-Huff and David Denson, said they asked Alston to name them in the lawsuit.
But Alston said he had never been approached by anyone to be named in the lawsuit.
He added that the trespassers were not the culprits. They were just misinformed.
“There is no plan to name people who were misled into attending the ‘celebration,’ regardless of what happened there,” he said.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
