A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the County of Kaua‘i involving public access at Papa‘a Bay this week, but allowed the plaintiff to refile a quiet title in state court. US. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway dismissed Mandalay
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the County of Kaua‘i involving public access at Papa‘a Bay this week, but allowed the plaintiff to refile a quiet title in state court.
US. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway dismissed Mandalay Properties Hawai‘i LLC vs. the County of Kaua‘i, not because the case is without merit, her order stated, but because the County has yet to make any action toward the access.
“If Kaua‘i took concrete action, such as initiating legal action to establish the existence as a public right-of-way, Mandalay’s claim would ripen into a valid claim,” Judge Mollway wrote.
“This does not mean Mandalay lacks any remedy,” she added. “It may be that Mandalay could bring a quiet title action in state court.”
Mandalay, owned by Hollywood movie Producer Peter Guber, is the owner of Tara Ranch, north of Anahola. Guber’s Honolulu attorney, Paul Alston did not return repeated calls for comment.
Beach access to Papa‘a Bay through Tara Ranch has been the source of numerous lawsuits and four arrests in the past year.
A federal lawsuit against Aliomanu resident Bill Young and three trespassing charges remain pending.
One of those arrested, David Denson, was supposed to mediate his simple trespass charges yesterday with Guber’s attorneys, but it was canceled, said Denson’s lawyer Daniel Hempey. No new date has been agreed upon.
“As it relates to access issues, the Court’s decision is good news for the Kaua‘i community,” stated Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan Baptiste. “We will continue to take necessary steps to maintain public access to Kaua‘i’s natural resources.”
But by not taking any steps, just announcing that they believed there was access, it appears the County saved itself a federal suit.
“The Mayor’s press release… did not articulate a particular course of action, and Kaua‘i has taken no steps to enforce any public right of access to the property,” the order continued.
“Kaua‘i has not yet made a decision that has been ‘formalized’; its effects have not yet been ‘felt in a concrete way by Mandalay,” Mollway wrote.
The mayor continued to ask the public not to use the disputed access.
“The alignment of the public access to Papa‘a Bay is yet to be established, and the public should not assume the access is through existing driveways or roads on the property,” the mayor said in a press release.
The county attorney’s office is working with Michael Matsukawa, the Big Island attorney whose report determined there was access to the Bay through Tara Ranch, to determine exactly where the access lies.
Alston has continually denied that access exists.
The lawsuit against the county was filed in July after the mayor announced that there was beach access to Papa‘a Bay through Tara Ranch. That announcement followed the receipt of Matsukawa’s report.
Tom Finnegan, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252)
