Ko Olina bans public from lagoon beaches

Ko Olina Resort plans to ban the public from using three of its four lagoons starting next month, reserving their use for hotel guests and condominium owners.

The new policy is meant to protect the public from mainland tourists, who will be returning to Hawaii in larger numbers starting Oct. 15, when the state loosens its restrictions on travel, the resort said.

“Ko Olina feels it’s necessary to separate community and visitor populations to minimize the potential of COVID spread,” the resort said in a notice titled “Ko Olina Shoreline Parking Reopening Plan” dated Tuesday and sent to city and state officials.

Lagoons 1, 2 and 3 will be reserved for hotel and condo guests from Nov. 1 until Feb. 1 under the new policy. Lagoon 4 will be open to the public, as will the parking lot at Lagoon 4, the resort said.

Closing lagoons to the public did not sit well with beach access advocates.

“That’s just clearly illegal in many different ways,” said Doorae Shin, Surfrider Foundation Oahu chapter coordinator.

Public access to Hawaii’s shorelines is a right protected by the landmark Hawaii Supreme Court decision in Public Access Shoreline v. Hawaii County Planning Commission in 1993, Shin said.

Beach access at Ko Olina, including dedicated public parking stalls, was a condition imposed by the state Land Use Commission in 1985.

“The shoreline doesn’t belong to the hotels and resorts, and we should be able to access the lagoons freely,” said Makakilo beachgoer Anastasia Winslow.

Winslow said the city’s map of shoreline and beach public access points shows a public access point at each of Ko Olina’s four lagoons.

“Ko Olina has a unique opportunity to take extra safety measures to protect our community by separating, best as possible, our local community from our visiting hotel guests and vacation club owners,” said the Ko Olina notice, which was sent by Sweetie Nelson, director of destination marketing for Ko Olina Resorts.

In an interview with the Star- Advertiser on Wednesday, Nelson emphasized this meant public and private beachgoers would each enjoy their own exclusive area, adding that the reason for the separation was to protect public safety by limiting potential exposures and requiring compliance with the city’s current, Tier 1 rule limiting gatherings to no more than five people.

Access to Ko Olina beaches has been an issue for months.

Since Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell ordered Oahu beaches reopened May 16, the public has been able to access the shoreline and lagoons at Ko Olina Resort, but the free public parking lots — provided to serve that access under a 2016 agreement between the developer, the City and County of Honolulu and the state — have remained closed.

The resort group’s reason for closing parking lots was that, with its hotels, restaurants and shops closed since late March, there was not enough income to maintain the restrooms, collect trash and ensure public safety, Nelson said.

In an Aug. 4 letter to Ko Olina developer Jeffrey Stone, CEO and president of The Resort Group, LLC, Kathy Sokugawa, acting director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, said the parking lots should be open.

“Given that public beaches are now open, access and parking associated with the beaches at Ko Olina Resort should also be open to the public,” Sokugawa wrote, but the parking lots have remained closed, according to the nonprofit Surf­rider Foundation Oahu and the Free Access Coalition, which have been monitoring the situation.

Nelson also told the Star- Advertiser that access to the public boat ramp at Ko Olina Marina, which has been closed since March, would reopen Monday for registered boaters “by reservation only.”

Public boater and longtime ramp user Rodney Ajifu said he hadn’t heard “this good news” from Ko Olina yet.