Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1995 — ʻEwa Marina/ceded lands: public purpose or private profit? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻEwa Marina/ceded lands: public purpose or private profit?

by Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i Trustee-at-Large A small section of Hawai'i's shoreline located between 'Ewa Beach and Barbers Point Naval Air Station is the focus of an

intense effort by OHA to protect Hawai'i's shoreline and submerged lands from exploitation by an international developer. The project is the 'Ewa Marina. The developer is Haseko Hawai'i and the issues include

whether public trust land ean be used to generate ineome for a private development. The basis for OHA's opposition is that submerged lands are a part of the ceded lands trust and their use affects and should serve OHA Hawaiian beneficiaries. As set forth in law, these ceded lands ean only be used for explicit trust purposes. Specifically. the Admission Act names five trust purposes: (1) the support of the public schools and other public educational institutions; (2) the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians; (3) the development of farm and home ownership; (4) the making of public improvements; and (5) the provision of land for public use. For many years the purposes of the ceded lands trust were ignored

by the state. Ceded lands, including submerged lands, were used for various private purposes whieh had little, if anything, to do with the trust directives. This disregard for the trust allowed private projects such as the Hawai'i

Kai marina, Waikoloa Resort on the Big Island and West Beach on O'ahu to alter the shoreline and impact trust property without restriction or compensation. DLNR holds and manages public lands including the

ceded lands. Use or alteration of the ceded lands requires the approval of the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR). In addition, shoreline property is in the Conservation District and any alteration or use requires a permit from the BLNR. Haseko is currently in the process of securing a permit to allow the transformation of this quiet fishing spot into a commercial enterprise. Haseko contends the marina fits the trust requirements because a portion of the marina will be accessible by the public. Public use, however, is minimal, required for a limited time and not without payment for services. More importantly, at the end of nine years this pay-as-you-go public access could be eliminated entirely.

The propriety of using public lands in this manner is extremely important to the future of Hawai'i. If the Board of Land and Natural Resources accepts the developer's argument that the provision of public services for even a very short period constitutes a public use, then Hawai'i ean expect that many more private developers will seek to carve out sections of the shoreline and dredge the submerged lands to create profitable marina enterprises. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is charged with advocating for the betterment of conditions of native Hawaiians. Thus, it ean be expected that OHA will object to any project whieh will adversely affect the conditions of native Hawaiians. We believe that this project and all that it portends for the future will onee again allow native resources to be used for non-public, non-Hawaiian benefit. OHA has formally challenged this abuse in a contested case hearing to block approval of the conservation permit. The BLNR will rule on this objection this month. If they rule in favor of the project, OHA will pursue the matter in court. We must assure that the ceded lands - including submerged lands - serve a public purpose, and not private profit.