Man fined for selling certificates to hikers who made it to top of Diamond Head

A Honolulu District Court judge sentenced a hawker to pay $230 in fines and fees after he pleaded no contest to a charge of unauthorized commercial activity for selling certificates to hikers who made it to the top of Diamond Head State Monument.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources said officers from its Division of Conservation and Resources (DOCARE) cited Christopher Barclay on March 8 for allegedly “soliciting business by setting up a vendor station” and offering $5 certificates to people “who’d successfully ascended Diamond Head crater.”

A day later officers caught him trying to ascend Diamond Head and arrested him on a 2015 bench warrant. The warrant was issued after Barclay failed to appear in court to answer an earlier charge of soliciting and conducting sales on DLNR land. DLNR said these examples are in addition to numerous complaints that it has received regarding years of alleged commercial activity by Barclay at the Diamond Head monument.

Barclay did appear in court Friday morning to plead no contest to the March incident, a petty misdemeanor, which could have resulted in a sentence of up to 30 days in jail and fines.

The state’s attorney, Kai Golden, and DLNR State Parks Division Administrator Curt Cottrell asked the court to issue Barclay a $500 fine because they said commercial activity at the popular monument compromised the quality of the public’s experience at the monument.

Cottrell said numerous people have asked the state to shut down unauthorized commercial activity at Diamond Head State Park, which attracts up to 3,000 visitors daily.

Barclay did not speak in court, but his attorney, Richard Holcomb, asked Oahu District Court Judge Trish Morikawa to impose a $100 fine, the minimum allowed.

Morikawa’s decision straddled the requests. Following the hearing, Barclay and Holcomb declined to comment.

Cottrell said he was satisfied with the results since Barclay’s “admission of guilt lays a good foundation and case record” that could be used against him if there were future violations.

“The decision was way more important than the outcome may indicate — it was precedent-setting. If there were future incidents, the penalty could escalate based on the foundation established today,” Cottrell said.

DLNR spokesman Dan Dennison said commercial activities in state parks can be conducted only via a lease, permit or concession, usually authorized by the Board of Land and Natural Resources. Only two entities — the nonprofit Pacific Historic Parks and a food vendor — are currently authorized to do business at the park, he said.

The nonprofit’s shop, which sells certificates for $2.50, pays a percentage of its gross receipts to the state parks division. The food truck vendor, which obtained its spot through a competitive bidding process, pays a fixed rate.

Barbara Marumoto, president of the Diamond Head State Monument Foundation and a member of the Diamond Head Citizens Advisory Committee, said she was disappointed that Morikawa did not give Barclay a maximum sentence.

“It was a slap on the wrist,” Marumoto said. “I’m worried that he’ll be back. He has been up there for 20 years, first selling T-shirts and then certificates. It’s wrong that he’s been making lots of money off a public treasure.”

Tom Moore, a daily visitor to the Diamond Head monument, also expressed disappointment.

“It’s clearly a commercial operation that intrudes on visitors and diminishes the experience. If the penalty had been larger, it would have been more of a discouragement,” Moore said.