Hanalei beach park to expand

HANALEI — One of the most popular North Shore beach parks is set to expand. Gov. Linda Lingle on Thursday signed off on the release of $800,000 from the Land Conservation Fund to be used for the acquisition of a three-quarter-acre of beach-front land adjacent to Hanalei’s Black Pot Park, according to Department of Land and Natural Resources records.

HANALEI — One of the most popular North Shore beach parks is set to expand.

Gov. Linda Lingle on Thursday signed off on the release of $800,000 from the Land Conservation Fund to be used for the acquisition of a three-quarter-acre of beach-front land adjacent to Hanalei’s Black Pot Park, according to Department of Land and Natural Resources records.

Meeting parcel owner John Hodge’s $3 million asking price — reduced from $3.3 million — the state money will add to the $1.85 million already approved from Kaua‘i County’s Open Space Fund and $350,000 from the county’s Special Trust Fund for Parks and Playgrounds, said Kaua‘i Public Land Trust Executive Director Jennifer Luck.

“We’re elated,” said Luck, who was instrumental in the process and “cautiously optimistic” that Lingle would release the money.

Legacy Land Conservation Commission Kaua‘i representative Carl Berg, another key player in the acquisition, said he was “very proud to get this for Kaua‘i.”

Provided by the Legacy Land Conservation Program and previously approved by DLNR, the $800,000 was the final stipulation KPLT needed after its “many, many years” of planning and action in obtaining the “last empty shoreline,” said KPLT Board member JoAnn Yukimura.

“It would have been really unfortunate if a house had been built in that parcel,” she said Saturday. “It’s such a heavily used park and hasn’t been expanded for decades.”

Now visitors and kama‘aina will have more room to recreate which is especially vital “in these really difficult economic times,” Luck said.

“Places like Hanalei Bay and Black Pot Beach Park become incredibly important for mental health and happiness and stability for our community,” she said. “People have somewhere to go which doesn’t cost any money.”

The county intends to initiate a master plan for Hanalei Beach Park after all paperwork is finalized which will “hopefully” be by the end of the year, Luck said.

The county’s “vision” for the park includes adequate parking facilities, additional pavilions and improved restrooms, according to a press release last month. The county also plans to manage and limit commercial activities.

“If the county had not supported this project … most likely the monies would not have been released,” Luck said.

Another “example of great teamwork” between government agencies occurred during the fast-tacked process of acquiring the parcel, as it had become an urgent matter, Yukimura said. “It was the first priority for public funding because it was so imminent to be developed.”

“(Hodge) wasn’t going to wait forever,” she said.

When asked how this would affect taxpayers and where the more than $1.8 million from the county would be generated from, Yukimura said, “the county has been very prudent in its financial decision-making, so it actually has a far larger surplus of money than any other county.”

And right now is the perfect time to purchase land while real estate is “in a downturn” because prices will only continue to increase throughout the years, she added.

It was an opportunity the county couldn’t afford to lose, she said. And it is “money well spent.”

“I really do hope this is the beginning of the expansion process,” Luck said.

There is “a desire and potential to acquire all the land along the Hanalei River,” Yukimura said.

Other parcels the county is hoping to annex include two parcels fronting the Hanalei River, one owned by Michael Sheehan and the other by Montage Hotels & Resorts.

“Hanalei is one of Kaua‘i’s natural treasures,” Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said in a statement about the governor’s recent approval. “Our residents want to protect and enjoy this resource, and it will take careful planning and management to ensure this happens.”

• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.