Whether the county should revoke or amend a permit to allow boatyard owner Mike Sheehan to continue to operate his boatyard off the Hanalei River will be the focus of Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday. The commission, which will
Whether the county should revoke or amend a permit to allow boatyard owner Mike Sheehan to continue to operate his boatyard off the Hanalei River will be the focus of Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday.
The commission, which will meet at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, will take testimony from county officials and Sheehan or his representatives on the merit of a county Planning Department report citing violations at the boatyard.
A department field survey alleged these violations and others: Unpermitted structures and unpermitted launching of commercial tours, failure by Sheehan to provide a current list of boatowners at the site, lack of parking and stockpiling of unapproved materials.
Contacted yesterday, Sheehan said he will respond to the allegations at the meeting.
“I am looking forward to it being informational and hoping the current planning commission better understand (the boatyard issue once better informed),” he said. “And I hope to be answering any questions they may have.”
Sheehan said Kaua‘i architect Avery Youn, the county planning director when he received the permits in 1987 for his boatyard, will explain the reasoning that was used in the approval of his project that year.
If the permits are valid, the meeting is the starting point to revoke them, because of the violations, said Carl Imparato, president of the Hanalei-to-Ha‘ena Community Association, which has roughly 100 members.
“We have been waiting for this hearing for a long time,” Imparato said.
“The county issued a notice of violation on July 18, and the community has been picketing in front of Mike Sheehan’s property. We have been picketing for more than 12 weeks.”
If the permits are valid, the association and community residents “are confident the planning commission has the tools to shut down the boatyard,” Imparato said.
If the permits are taken away, the county will face a new federal lawsuits based on “unconstitutional taking,” Sheehan predicted. “It will be expensive for taxpayers,” he said.
Sheehan said he has nothing to hide and continues to keep his doors open to visits to his boatyard by any planning commissioners or county officials.
Based on the alleged violations, the County Planning Department has recommended the commission ask Sheehan to explain why the county should not revoke or modify permits first issued to him by another planning commission in1987.
The boatyard has been at a center of a controversy that goes back three decades. The issue has divided the North Shore community — those wanting the boats in operation for employment and those wanting the industry to shut down to protect the environment and commercialization.
At the height of the controversy in the late 1980s, more than 40 boat companies, using rubber Zodiac boats with dual pontoons, ran tours to the Na Pali Coast. Many of the companies operated at the boatyard.
The prohibition of tour boat operations in Hanalei Bay began in 1988 and ended in 2000, when then-Gov. Ben Cayetano rousted most of the tour boat industry from Hanalei Bay and the river, citing environmental concerns.
The larger companies were able to buy bigger boas and move to Port Allen Harbor or Kikiaola Harbor in West Kaua‘i, but smaller companies with less capital folded up.
The battle triggered lawsuits and counter lawsuits in state and federal courts.
The controversy was reborn September, 2006 when residents voiced concerns to the county Planning Department that tour boat operations seemed ready to resume at the boatyard.
According to Planning Department documents that will be reviewed at Tuesday’s meeting, the department warned Sheehan that any attempt to resume launching and retrieval of tour boats at the boatyard would amount to a violation of the 1987 permits.
Sheehan stood his ground and notified the department that previously permitted commercial tour operations would be conducted at his boatyard, the government documents state.
Partly on the strength of a favorable 2001 court ruling, Sheehan resumed operation of his boatyard in July of this year. Na Pali Explorer and Hanalei River Enterprises have begun operations there since that time.
Based on community concerns lodged in early July, the Planning Department conducted a field inspection of the boatyard that resulted in the issuance of a violation notice to Sheehan on July 18.
The Planning Department found these alleged violations:
• Unpermitted buildings on the site and many more than were originally approved. The structures, which include a wooden storage shelter and metal storage containers, were put on the site without zoning and building permits.
• Commercial tour boat operations have occurred at the boatyard without proper permits.
• Sheehan has failed to provide a current list of operators at the baseyard.
• Sheehan has failed to provide sufficient parking at the boatyard, a contention challenge by the facility owner. He said yesterday he has a county permit that was not mentioned in the complaint that allows for parking at the 8.4-acre boatyard site.
• Boats without state Department of Transportation permits have landed and launched from the “river side” of the boatyard.
The report goes on to say Sheehan has failed to submit architectural plans with proper permit applications for changes at his boatyard.
In requesting the commission to take some action against Sheehan, the Planning Department noted the current vessels at the boatyard are not the ones that were registered with the county in 1987 and that the current ownership of the boats has changed or has been sub-contracted by other companies.
The Planning Department documents go on to say legal counsel for Sheehan submitted a written response refuting all the allegations.
• Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@kauaipubco.com.
