Concerns about public access to the shoreline are delaying plans for the Kahaluu Ma Kai education center in Kailua-Kona.
Unresolved issues around how and where the public will be able to traverse the 22.7-acre site — and a lack of clarity on exactly where the shoreline is located — prompted the Leeward Planning Commission to defer a decision on whether to grant a special management area permit on Thursday. The permit is one step in the regulatory process that Kamehameha Schools must navigate as it pushes the project ahead.
The county is requiring a 40- to 60-foot setback from the shoreline for the group of at least seven educational buildings.
The complex will offer place-based education inspired by Native Hawaiian traditions at the site of the Keauhou Beach Hotel, which Kamehameha Schools hopes to tear down.’But it’s not yet clear what land is under the county and what is state jurisdiction.
It is also unclear how a school safety zone will affect access. The zone extends 500 to 1,000 feet from the facility, well into the ocean.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the county Cultural Resources Commission say the education center and school zone must not infringe on the public right of movement along the shore. The agencies urged the county not to approve the SMA permit until those issues are resolved.
Under Kamehameha Schools’ application for the SMA, there would be no public access in the north portion of the complex because of sacred sites and the school safety zone. In a recent letter, the Cultural Resources Commission noted that a plan to allow the public to walk along the ocean shelf would be unsafe because of ocean conditions. The commission recommended that a dedicated public trail be created instead.
KS officials maintain they have no plans to curtail movement along the shoreline.
“Kamehameha Schools has not and will not prevent any lawful public shoreline access,” said Kaeo Duarte, KS vice president of community engagement and resources.
Duarte described the project as a complicated one. The area fronting the property was a fish pond, and a heiau built in the water is a unique situation, he said. KS is in the midst of discussions with DLNR on shoreline issues, he said.
Duarte and planning director Duane Kanuha expressed optimism that the issues could be resolved. But Waikoloa resident Sandra Kirkpatrick worried that access to the ocean will be lost.
“Public access is a right that everyone in Hawaii appreciates and understands,” Kirkpatrick said. “This is something that needs to be taken seriously. Everyone should be allowed reasonable access and it definitely worries me that a school zone would cut off access completely.”
But many of the project’s supporters, including some charter school students, called for a managed approach to public access, saying unfettered movement around heiau is not appropriate.
People wandering on heiau or visiting unprepared is a spiritual danger, said Maulili Dickson, Kahuna Pule for the Royal Order of Kamehameha, Heiau O Kamehameha.
“In the past, we have witnessed people coming into the area with a negative frame of mind having a negative experience,” Dickson said. “This used to be a kapu area and remains in that sense. Our concern is that access not just be open so people can walk all over. There are burials in there and there are kapu areas. You need education and support before you can enter those areas.”
Two students from Kua O Ka La charter school in Puna said its antithetical to their traditions for people to gawk and snap photos during ceremonies.
“Having that pathway is like having a whole horde of tourists come through and take pictures of you like you’re in a museum,” one student said.
The commission made no decision on the permit, instead delaying a vote until its Oct. 22 meeting. But commissioner Collin Kaholo — whose grandparents lived on the Kahaluu site — expressed reservations about the plans for the center.
“My concern is mostly precedent,” Kaholo said. “You need to understand the public’s perspective. Once we set a precedent out there, it’s open gate for everyone else. You need to look at this too, because there are two sides to the story.”
The meeting hall was packed with school children wearing lei, many of whom took the microphone to describe how their experiences with Native Hawaiian education programs already ongoing at the site have given them a sense of place, inspiration and purpose they wouldn’t have otherwise had.
“I think a managed approach to access is a lesson; it teaches people there are sacred places that you cannot just walk into,” said Thomas Brennon, a teacher with the Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science in Pahoa, whose students have mapped the site through the Hui Kaha Puhaku program.
“I would like to see some controls (on access) in areas where lessons are being held, because education needs that safety,” Brennon said.
In all, the project enjoys broad support. Out of nearly two dozen testifiers, two people had serious concerns about the potential loss of shoreline access. All supported the building of the center and most called for some measure of control over public movement at the site and its five heiau.
