The Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday renewed a revocable permit issued to the Kahala Hotel &Resort for a small beachfront parcel, with further conditions to install more visible declarations that the grassy area is open to the public despite the presence of hotel lounge chairs.

The roughly 1.3-acre lot was originally sand, but the mauka portion has been covered with grass since at least 1986. The area has been subject to a revocable permit in one form or another since 1968. In more recent years there have been complaints that the 338-room luxury hotel was using the lot improperly and at the exclusion of the public.

When hotel owner Resorttrust Hawaii LLC’s current permit was renewed in October 2019, the Land Board reduced the area of the lot designated for hotel use to 1,492 square feet, or 3% of the total area, from 3,263 square feet. The board also extended terms that spell out the allowed uses and ensure full public access and use of the remaining 97% of the lot.

Those conditions and others will remain in effect under the 2021 permit.

They include monthly rent of $1,360 and assurances that any member of the public may have a picnic or set up chairs or umbrellas on the grassy area. The permit also continues to allow the hotel to preset 70 chairs for its guests. Other items may be used by hotel guests provided the “user is physically present or such items have been placed on the Premises at the request of the user,” according to the permit.

Additionally, no weddings, surf lessons, kayaking or boating activities are allowed. The permit also requires the existing two public corridors running mauka to makai on the Koko Head side of the lot between the lounge chairs.

A report by Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Land Division staff said the hotel has instructed employees not to provide food and beverage service to guests within the lot. The report also noted the hotel’s “meticulous care” of the area and said staff regularly monitors the premises by site visits.

A statement in the report that “no significant problems or concerns have been noted during 2020” raised the ire of David Kimo Frankel, who exclaimed during public testimony at Friday’s meeting that the report presented a “distorted picture of what goes on there.”

Frankel, an attorney who is active in environmental and Native Hawaiian issues, filed an unsuccessful lawsuit in 2018 seeking to invalidate the Kahala’s revocable permit. He said the lounge chairs covering the grassy area make it impossible for the public to use.

“The hotel excludes people by putting out chairs early in the morning in most desirable areas,” he said. “To have the hotel reserve spots is so inappropriate, it’s so wrong. Why are we reserving the best spots for the rich folks? That’s not what a democratic society is supposed to be about.”

His written submittal documented past instances of “noncompliance” in which the hotel set up cabanas and provided dining and bar service, ocean activities and weddings in the public area. Those activities are no longer occurring, but Frankel urged the board to go further and prohibit the presetting of chairs “to allow hotel guests to use the property just as the public does but not in a preferred way.”

Honolulu resident Tyler Ralston also testified the report was “incredibly inaccurate.” He said he was asked by hotel personnel to leave the area during a recent visit.

Attorney Jennifer Lim, representing Resorttrust Hawaii, provided a current photo showing the lightweight, low-profile chairs set up on the lawn in pairs surrounded by open spaces large enough for others to lay out beach towels or a small picnic. The hotel has also set up a hammock, towel caddie, trash can, water cooler and public shower on the section designated for its use.

“Lots of people use this property,” she said.

Lim also noted the hotel spends an estimated $70,000 annually cleaning and maintaining the lot and the beach in front of it to keep it “open for everybody.”

Land Board member Vernon Char said that when he visited the property Thursday, it was unclear to him whether the grassy area and shower are open to the public. He said he previously voted for renewal of the revocable permit, “but this time I’m up in the air … whether the presetting of chairs is not more a preemption” to discourage nonguests from entering the area.

“The lack of clear identification creates confusion and misrepresentation to the public as to what area they should be able to access. … I would think most locals would not use the shower,” Char said. “There should be more notification to the public that tells them what their entitlement is.”

Several other board members chimed in with similar concerns.

“When all 70 chairs are set out, it still implies strongly, as least to the uninformed person, that’s not your place where you can just sit down and enjoy the property,” remarked Sam “Ohu” Gon III.

Kahala Hotel &Resort General Manager Joe Ibarra stressed that the hotel has made an earnest effort to reduce its footprint on the subject lot and has been engaged in conversations with community groups and individuals.

Continued use of the lot, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely limited tourism, is not just about public access at this point, he said. “For us it’s about survival,” and “having access to this land is important.”

In the end, the board voted unanimously to renew the revocable permit, with additional conditions that the hotel provide a clear, visible delineation of its makai property boundary and install more signs welcoming the public into the space.