On December 28, 2003, in an act of civil disobedience, four people were arrested for trespassing after trying to go to Papa‘a Beach using access across Tara Ranch at the end of Papa‘a Road. On Thursday, charges against one of
On December 28, 2003, in an act of civil disobedience, four people were arrested for trespassing after trying to go to Papa‘a Beach using access across Tara Ranch at the end of Papa‘a Road.
On Thursday, charges against one of the four arrested, David Denson, were dismissed, and prosecutors said charges would be dropped against two others. Liko Martin, the fourth Kaua‘i resident arrested, pleaded no contest to the trespassing charge in February.
Over a year after the incident, after a number of federal lawsuits were filed in relation to the access, and over a dozen court appearances, where does the public stand on access to Papa‘a Beach through Tara Ranch?
Exactly where they were a year ago, most of the participants say.
“It’s still the same limbo, and we spent so much money on it,” said Denson on Thursday. “I figured that, with the arrests, we would’ve gotten an answer, ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ But we don’t have an answer.
“It doesn’t change how much the county will spend on frivolous little things and miss the big issues,” he added.
Bill Young was sued in federal court by the owner of Tara Ranch, Mandalay Properties, which is in turn owned by movie producer Peter Guber. The lawsuit alleges Young was a leader in creating the beach-access celebration. He’s being sued for inciting trespass and slander of title.
Young believes the federal lawsuit filed against him was a contributing factor in the failure of his monthly newspaper, The Kaua‘i, he said. He’s also spent all his savings, and is trying to sell his home, thanks, at least in part, to the lawsuit.
“For almost three months, I was spending more than 40 hours a week just trying to learn how to be a lawyer, reading legal documents, filing court motions,” Young said via e-mail. “I didn’t have time to do anything else.”
And where is beach access in general today? Even worse than before, said Young.
“The efforts for beach access seem to be more adversarial, where the county is afraid to act, and the owners are comfortable knowing the county and public are afraid of lawsuits,” Young said. “The county is afraid to back up the law with action, and the owners know that they can effectively control access to ‘their’ beaches with the threat of expensive lawsuits.”
He is, however, hopeful that the Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste’s new access commission might make some headway out of the courts and back towards the beaches, where the whole issue started.
But it might take years, and many more dollars in lawyers’ fees, to resolve whether Papa‘a Beach access exists along Papa‘a Road, he said.
“Unfortunately, if the termination of the lawsuit is the criterion for access, the lawsuit against the county could go on for years,” Young added.
The suit against Young is currently on hold, pending the completion of a federal lawsuit against the County of Kaua‘i.
While the county’s lawsuit was dismissed, Guber’s lawyer, Paul Alston, said Thursday that his firm has asked the court to allow Mandalay to file a complaint for money damages against the county. If that motion is denied, an independent action will be filed and an appeal will be taken, either through a motion for reconsideration or through re-filing.
“This isn’t going away,” Alston said. “The demonstration in December, 2003, was noteworthy only because it demonstrated how easily members of the public can be misled.”
He added that he expects the two federal lawsuits will eventually be consolidated and move forward together.
“There is substantial evidence that Bill Young, if he was not working directly with the county, he was acting in concert with the county,” Alston said. “We are focusing on who’s responsible for this.”
Alston has contended all along that there has been no public access along Papa‘a Road to the beach. The public road ends well before Papa‘a Bay, he has said on numerous occasions.
But a Big Island attorney hired by the county disagreed. The study, completed by Michael Matsukawa, shows access exists over a section of the ranch known as the Widemann Reservation.
Baptiste’s announcement in June that there was access through Tara Ranch prompted the Mandalay lawsuit.
And Baptiste said that while last year’s celebration might have prompted the current action, he believes the newly formed public-access commission will be the entity that causes the most long-term change.
“I believe the newly formed Public Access, Open Space & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission will truly be the proactive process that will lead to systemic changes to acquiring public access,” the mayor said.
He added that he does believe that Papa‘a Road access will eventually be opened to the public.
But Alston countered that “all the commissions in the world won’t change (the) fact (that) there is no basis for claiming public access down Papa‘a Road.”
The mayor said that a second Papa‘a Bay access is being acquired, through a private donation.
According to Alston, however, the land donated is but a piece of land that connects the current access to the public street. It is not another access point, merely making the trip to the beach completely legal.
“It’s a link in the access trail,” said Alston.
Before the donation, those wanting to travel to Papa‘a had to cross private property to reach the public trail.
So where does leave those in the public who want to head to Papa‘a Beach?
Denson says he’s still going to use Papa‘a Road to head to the beach.
And that’s even though the prosecutor will be serving him with a letter, telling him the land owner believes he’s trespassing.
“I believe the land owner was satisfied that parties are on notice that any further trespass would be prosecuted,” said Prosecuting Attorney Craig De Costa. “There was no conviction necessary in this case.”
Tell that to Denson and his lawyer, Daniel Hempey.
“I understand that the millionaire landowner still intends to consider my client’s use of the trail to the beach as a criminal trespass,” Hempey said. “What if some other citizens cross that same trail in the future?”
“Can the county arrest people for trespassing on the same land the county claims the people have a right to use?” Hempey asked. “The mayor has talked about there being public beach access to Papa‘a Bay. The big question now is what, if anything, the county is going to do to protect that access?”
And that is certainly the question.
Alston says that police will be called if people access their property.
And Baptiste has asked people not to use access through Tara Ranch. He’s said that the specific access route has not been determined.
“Will county police and officials protect the right of public access or will they back up the billionaire land owner again?” Hempey asked. “Can the county arrest people for trespassing on the same land the county claims the people have a right to use? It’s interesting.”
Tom Finnegan, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mailto:ftinnegan@pulitzer.net
