Kokee park master plan approved

LIHUE — After a decade of push and pull, it’s nearly done.

The Kokee State Park Advisory Council approved the master plan draft for Kokee and Waimea Canyon state parks on Saturday — mostly.

The council voted unanimously to approve it, but attached two objections and a recommendation for the Board of Land and Natural Resources to consider when it weighs the issue for final approval.

“It’s been a long journey and I know there’s been frustrations on both sides of that journey,” said KSPAC member Chipper Wichman, who put more than 400 hours into the plan. “I feel very good about it. Are there elements in it that I would change today? Certainly there are. But I think it represents the right balance.”

He said the final draft represents a marriage of the needs of the state to generate revenue and the desires of the community to preserve and protect the park. Those were two sticking points as the council and state Department of Land and Natural Resources worked together for the better part of 10 years.

On Saturday, the process took a big step with the council’s recommendation.

But first, the council made clear that it — and the community — remain adamantly against an entry station as well as its proposed location, which would require the DLNR to take over control of a larger portion of the road from the Department of Transportation.

Additionally, the council recommends that that the plan in no way diminishes the religious and cultural rights of Native Hawaiians.

A small number of community members, including several representing the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi, attended the meeting in Lihue to voice their concerns — some on topic, others not.

Kauai County Councilman Gary Hooser, who serves as an ex-officio representative of the council, reminded the audience that the KSPAC represents the community, is made up of volunteers and has no regulatory authority.

“This is a friendly group that wants to support the same kind of values (as you),” he told the audience.

The original proposal — drawn up in 2003 by DLNR officials and a consultant — included a 40- to 60-room hotel with restaurant, a park entry gate to collect user fees from both residents and non-residents, new overlooks above Waimea Valley and a souvenir store at Waimea Canyon Lookout.

Over the years, however, the council managed to get rid of or amend several of those proposals, moving the plan away from revenue generation and over-commercialization toward preservation.

Community member Mary Lu Kelley said previous draft master plans would have turned Kokee into a Disneyland-like amusement park.

“This council fought,” she said. “And as far as I know, everything I’ve read … we’re not getting all that junk.”

Kelley acknowledged the council for all of its hard work and said she supports keeping the KSPAC in place so that the community has a voice in deciding what happens in its backyard.

In January, Rep. Dee Morikawa introduced a bill aimed at doing away with the council for failing to do its job and costing the state money. At the meeting Saturday, however, Morikawa said her bill was not really about abolishing the council but making it more efficient.

“My intent on dissolving this council was to move it forward in a direction where we can have more Kauai people get involved in the decisions that are made in Kokee,” she said.

Morikawa apologized to those who “misunderstood” her intent, as well as the “obnoxious” language in the bill. Then, she said she didn’t draft the language of her own bill, but sent her idea to her lawyers, who did.

“I apologize. I sincerely apologize,” she said.

 The council’s unanimously vote included member Wayne Souza voting with reservations, a method to support and express concerns all in one.

The Final Draft Master Plan will now be sent to the BLNR for consideration during an upcoming meeting.

• Chris D’Angelo, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.