Permits delaying boat ramp’s return, Ko Olina officials say

Many fishermen and boaters on Oahu have bemoaned the improper removal of a public boat ramp at Ko Olina Resort & Marina for seven years, but they will have to endure the loss for perhaps another year or maybe longer.

Resort representatives told the state Land Use Commission during a hearing Thursday that a longer-than-expected permitting process involving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has bogged down the project.

Several fishermen expressed frustration at the hearing and urged the commission to hold the resort owner accountable.

“We’ve been patiently waiting, but I think seven years is more than enough,” said Richard Yama­saki, a member of Reel Fishing Club who lives in Aiea.

Some fishermen blame the Corps of Engineers, though some also suggest that the resort, which contested the need to replace the ramp it closed in 2005, would rather not build the new ramp.

“Ko Olina is not very keen about public access,” said Warren Von Arns­waldt, a member of Wai­alua Boat Club who lives in Maka­kilo. He noted that Disney’s Aulani Resort was built at Ko Olina in less time.

Creighton Chang, a fisherman from Wai­pahu, also weighed in at the LUC hearing. “Ko Olina wants this project delayed,” he said. “It’s coming up on eight years since the public has been denied access rights.”

Wyeth Matsubara, an attorney representing Ko Olina Development LLC, said the resort owner has tried its utmost to get a new ramp open as quickly as possible, and that it shares the frustrations of boaters.

“We have no control over the permitting authorities and how long it takes to process permits,” he said.

“It is the process and it is what is required.”

In a written report submitted to the commission last week, Matsu­bara said the delays and additional permitting hurdles have increased the project’s cost, which is estimated at around $2 million.

Matsubara was pressed for a new estimated ramp completion date, but he said too many unknowns exist with regard to permits and expected permit requirements to make an estimate when construction might begin. Construction alone is projected to take 12 months.

Ko Olina was required to build a public boat ramp on its property as part of development approvals for the resort. That ramp opened in 2000 as part of Ko Olina’s $40 million marina with 270 private boat slips. But the ramp became a sore point between the resort and public users over operating hours, fees and complaints by resort residents.

The resort closed and destroyed the ramp in 2005, and arranged for public use of a ramp that a boat repair company uses to transport boats to and from the water at the adjacent industrial Kalaeloa Harbor.

Fishermen and other boaters complained that the ramp was unsafe for them because of its design with high walls and poor protection from ocean swells.

After a lengthy contested case hearing before the LUC, the commission ruled in 2008 that Ko Olina needed to re-establish a ramp at its marina, but imposed no deadline.

A schedule Ko Olina submitted in 2009 anticipated the ramp would be done by March 2013. The relatively long timetable was due to the variety of permits required from federal, state and county agencies.

Permits include a water quality certification, a conditional use permit, a conservation use district permit, a coastal zone management permit, a shoreline management area permit, the Corps of Engineers permit and a building permit.

All but the last two permits have been obtained. The Corps of Engineers permit has stood out as taking particularly long to process. Ko Olina applied for the permit in September 2010, and in June 2011 the agency indicated it was confident it could issue the permit by September 2011.

Joseph Bonfiglio, a Corps of Engineers spokes­man, said via email that the permit should be issued in about two to four weeks, and he thanked the public for its patience as the agency works to fulfill its regulatory mission protecting the nation’s aquatic environment.

Bonfiglio did not address the amount of time it has taken to process the permit.

Matsubara said Thursday that he expects the permit will be issued in two to four weeks, but with two conditions requiring potentially extensive studies.

One study is a cultural survey being required by the State Historic Preservation Division. The study is being sought for part of the project on land that includes a parking lot for trucks and trailers.

The other study is an assessment of impacts on fish being required by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The agency notified the Corps of Engineers last month that the marina is designated as “essential” fish habitat. “Although the (essential fish habitat) in the proposed project area is described as degraded, it is nonetheless fish habitat,” the agency said in its notice.

Matsubara said Ko Olina has retained Cultural Surveys Hawaii to conduct the cultural survey, and will comply with whatever the Corps of Engineers permit requires pertaining to fish habitat impact assessment and mitigation.

“It’s just unfortunate and frustrating to both sides as to what’s going on,” he said.

The LUC told Ko Olina representatives to pre­sent another update in April.