Portlock beach access lane is for public

Mahalo to the City and County for seeking condemnation for an easement for a public right of way in Portlock, Maunalua, Oahu. This action will complete the efforts started over 20 years ago by the community. There currently are no public rights of way on Portlock Road.

All the lanes in Portlock were once owned by Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate. The lanes were deeded over by KSBE to the makai side Portlock homeowners in the 1990s at no cost, or $1. No taxes are paid on the lanes and the lanes are assessed at $200. Each homeowner on a lane has an undivided interest of the lane. The lanes are a shared space; off the lanes are the driveways leading to single homes.

With this information, it seems strange that one homeowner would ask for $2 million dollars from the city for their part of a lane they received at no cost and pay no taxes.

What makes the lane being sought for condemnation so important is this lane leads to the beach and then to surf spots in Maunalua Bay, most significantly “Seconds.” The beach and oceanfront are safety accessible at both low and high tide. The other accessways do not lead to this beach. The access to this oceanfront is now blocked by a locked gate.

Community members should not be at the mercy of homeowners allowing or not allowing community members their fundamental right to access the public beach. All beaches in Hawaii are public; the question is, how do we get there? Public rights of way.

On the lane in question the community has established prescriptive rights; the community has used that access lane for over 50 years. For those of us who are Hawaiian, we have PASH (Public Access Shoreline Hawaii) rights. The Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board has consistently supported the community on the acquisition of the lane for public access.

This lane is the one used by Emergency Medical Services response teams in the event of a recreational injury for anyone out in the water, whether surfing at Seconds or swimming out beyond the reef.

This summer the Honolulu Fire Department had to cut through the locked gate to help injured community members in the ocean. What comes with a public rights of way sign is also an identifying number allowing community members to call EMS, identify where they are at by the number, so EMS can swiftly come to aid those in need. This is needed on Portlock Road.

Earlier this year, the lane was featured in an online advertisement promoting the homeowner’s vacation rental with “private gated beach access” to “your own private sandy beach.” Why would someone advertise a private beach and private access while at the same time saying an area’s filled with crime? It was only when this ad was exposed by the community that it was taken down.

It is disrespectful to community members to be portrayed as hoodlums, drug users and vagrants by a homeowner. Community members have shown aloha to the beach and ocean in Maunalua for generations. The facts reveal any transgressions being purported to be happening are not true.

We ask the City and County of Honolulu for the common sense decision to acquire this access lane for a public rights of way and complete the action started 20 years ago. This will ensure public access now for future generations.

Wayne Fujihara and Alex Costa are ocean users who use the Portlock access lane.