Kauaʻi County Council passes resolutions following public beach access complaints

Although all beaches in Hawai’i are generally open to the public by law, there have been complaints on Kauaʻi about a declining number of public access routes to the shoreline, including to the popular and family-friendly ʻAnini Beach.

The Kaua’i County Council on Wednesday took action to address the public access issues and unanimously passed two resolutions.

One resolution urges the state to conduct a shoreline survey to establish the official boundary of a private property along ʻAnini Beach, whose owner has been accused of blocking public access. The other calls for the Planning Department to pursue public access points for land deemed public.

“A huge pet peeve of mine is when private landowners take over public access. That just drives me nuts,” said Council Chairman Mel Rapozo during the meeting.

Rapozo, along with Councilmember Billy DeCosta, introduced both resolutions, which he said “will only affect the owners that decide to kick out local people from the beach.”

Resolution 2024-26 states the landowner of a parcel directly across from ʻAnini Beach in Kīlauea has in recent years built a structure, hired security to restrict entry and extended the appearance of ownership by placing heavy outdoor furniture — including recliners and umbrellas — on the beach.

“The landowner has basically taken over the state beach, put up his or her beach amenities, hired security to kick our local people off the beach, and they even had the audacity to put up a road closed sign on a post,” Rapozo said.  

Although the resolution doesn’t name the owner, it states the parcel number. Online records show the parcel has the address 4371 ʻAnini Road, with the house located about 60 feet from the beach. 

Public records show the property is a vacation rental property under a limited liability company named ʻAnini Beach Hale, owned by Jeffrey Stone. He is a Honolulu-based developer who owns The Resort Group, one of the largest real estate development companies in the state. Stone could not be reached Thursday for comment. 

The resolution says the public has the right to access the shoreline and the beach unless proven otherwise, and that the state has the authority to conduct a shoreline survey to determine the location of the state boundary and private land. 

The resolution also urges the state to conduct a shoreline determination survey to establish that the state boundary includes the area fronting the parcel. 

Rapozo said the survey would “define the shoreline so people can enjoy the beaches that belong to them.”

Resolution 2024-28 urges the Planning Department to reclaim public access to the shore islandwide by pursuing appropriate easement interests with private landowners.

The resolution said the council has received numerous complaints that allege “various private landowners across the island are obstructing public rights of way with gates, foliage, stones and other barriers.”

Blocking beach access violates Hawai’i law.

The resolution said the Planning Department has the authority to issue a notice of violation and pursue monetary fines or other legal actions; and it urges the Planning Department to evaluate the complaints.

Rapozo said if these complaints are proven to be legitimate, and public accesses and rights of way are being obstructed, the resolution would enable the county to pursue reclaiming them.

The county can use the power of eminent domain to condemn the private right of way and acquire the property for public access and use. However, that is the “least favorable option” due to it being an expensive and time-consuming process, Rapozo said.  

Hawaii’s most recent Supreme Court cases have held that the boundary between private property and public beaches should be as far inland as possible to maximize the area of beach and coastline available to the public, KHON reported in June.

At the meeting, Councilmember Felicia Cowden described first moving to Kaua’i 40 years ago and finding a “seemingly endless” amount of waterfalls, mountains and beaches.

But incrementally, properties were purchased causing people to need to “go around” and eventually lose access to those areas, she said.

Cowden noted one instance during COVID when she was exploring an area with young students as part of her former homeschooling program. Cowden didn’t provide the name of the area, but said she was stopped by armed security guards who “very forcefully” said they couldn’t be there.

“And in the last like 5 to 10 years, it has just closed more and more,” Cowden said. She even attributed the lack of public access over the last 30 years as a reason “why young people are just on their phones.”

Cowden called the resolution a “first step” for the county to let the public know that the issue is important and that they will take active movements to not let it continue.

Councilman Ross Kagawa was the only member to point out possible issues with the proposed plan, saying it could lead to houseless people occupying areas. 

He referred to McBryde Garden in Kōloa, claiming when they opened it up a few years ago “you get the homeless damaging farm equipment” and causing other issues. He said it wouldn’t work to open up areas without addressing the root causes of the problems that can occur. He said it needs to be addressed holistically.

Just before the resolution was approved, Rapozo advised the public: “If you’d like to protect your property, don’t buy near the ocean because eventually you’re gonna lose your property to the ocean.”