LIHU‘E — Is it still “public access” if it goes through privately owned property? Responding to concerns from the public that access to Moloa‘a’s pristine Larsen’s Beach could be compromised by a new fence, Paradise Ranch owner Bruce Laymon and
LIHU‘E — Is it still “public access” if it goes through privately owned property?
Responding to concerns from the public that access to Moloa‘a’s pristine Larsen’s Beach could be compromised by a new fence, Paradise Ranch owner Bruce Laymon and Grove Farm officials said Tuesday that cutting through “the path of least resistance” on private property is nothing less than “trespassing.”
Members of the public can still use the county-owned road and path to get down to the ocean, said Laymon, who has since 2002 leased approximately 600 oceanfront acres from the Waioli Corporation, a nonprofit organization tasked with managing and preserving some Grove Farm property.
Laymon offered to lend his support in the form of machinery and boulders to help make the public route truly accessible.
In a roundtable interview Tuesday afternoon at the Grove Farm Homestead Museum in Lihu‘e, Grove Farm attorney Don Wilson said the county was deeded Larsen’s Beach Road decades ago through a land court process. Since then, “improper and illegal use” has proliferated at Larsen’s.
Laymon and Moloa‘a neighbor Steve Frailey said the inappropriate behavior includes squatters in living sites nestled in the underbrush, complete with make-shift bathrooms that pose a health hazard; drug use and dealing; loud late-night “rave parties” with alcohol, music and hundreds of attendees who leave area residents praying for rain; public nudity around children; unattended fires; theft of nearby household items; vandalism and destruction of water lines and fences.
Grove Farm’s Bob Schleck said he was “stunned by a lack of respect” and beachgoers’ “willingness to ignore the law based on personal preferences.”
Laymon said he and Grove Farm are “trying to be responsible stewards of the land,” and that his pending soil conservation plan involves a brush management program that will remove the underbrush, making it harder for squatters to hide from landowners and authorities.
Last year, he was fined $500 by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for clearing brush without a permit.
He said he has been told by the Kaua‘i Police Department that officers will only get involved if the landowners clearly define the property line and post signs warning beachgoers that they are trespassing and not welcome.
“If it’s left open, there’s an assumption it’s not private property,” Laymon said, adding that as a lifelong Kaua‘i resident with previous generations in Kilauea, he is sensitive to access to the shoreline for locals who go there to fish or pick limu.
“I have no intention of blocking anybody,” he said. “They are painting us to be like monsters. … It’s legal what we’re doing.”
On Oct. 16, concerned citizens met at Larsen’s to discuss Laymon’s proposal to construct a cattle fence that would prevent the public from using the existing path through Waioli property, described by Kaua‘i Sierra Club Secretary Rayne Regush in an e-mail as a “safe lateral trail.”
Waioli Corporation Board member Andy Bushnell described the county-owned public access as a “fairly steep, relatively rocky” path.
Laymon said Tuesday that providing access to the beach is not the responsibility of private landowners, and said if the public concentrates its efforts on cleaning up the public access, he would be happy to contribute to making it safer.
However, Laymon said part of the appeal of Larsen’s is its inaccessibility, saying that the remote Kalalau Valley would lose something if it could be accessed by escalators. He said he did not want to encourage the young, old or handicapped to go to the secluded Larsen’s and overwhelm the area and its frequent monk seal visitors.
A Planning Department official who asked to not be identified by name said that the county’s access path might not work for somebody on crutches or an 80-year-old grandmother and that it would be unfair to compare Larsen’s to beach access at nearby development Kealia Kai.
If Laymon and Grove Farm have their way, the fence will force people to stay off their private property and will give the police the latitude to make arrests of those who ignore the warnings.
“In time, people are going to realize and hopefully respect it,” he said.
“If it’s private property,” Laymon asked rhetorically, is it “unfair that I have a right to be there and other people don’t?”
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
