Hawaii County is in the process of erecting a 6-foot-tall continuous chain-link fence along the boundary of Hilo Municipal Golf Course to prevent access by those seeking to play without paying or to use the course for unauthorized purposes.
As it turns out, at least some of the neighbors are displeased about both the fence and not being consulted in the decision-making process.
Colleen Shimazu — who lives in a home abutting the golf course — is a member of the Naniakea Street Kumiai, a neighborhood watch-type organization. Shimazu wrote a letter to the Tribune-Herald, as yet unpublished, opposing the fence.
Tom Callis, a spokesman for Mayor Kimo Alameda, said in an email Monday that Alameda, Managing Director Bill Brilhante and Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma went door-to-door on Feb. 23 to homes abutting the golf course “to explain the project.”
Honma also wrote a letter dated Feb. 21 to neighboring residents about the county’s reasons for the construction, which is set to start in late March with preparation work by Parks and Rec maintenance workers.
The third phase of fencing, at a cost of about $500,000, will be done by contractor Jas. W. Glover, Ltd. starting in April. Construction, which is on the makai side of the course, should take 180 days or less, Callis said.
According to Callis, the fourth and final phase, on the mauka side of the course, will entail a shorter span of fence than the current phase. He didn’t have a cost estimate for the future construction.
Callis said the project “does not meet the criteria for an environmental assessment” — which would require a public hearing and trigger a 30-day period for the public to provide feedback to government officials.
In a follow-up conversation Tuesday, Shimazu told the Tribune-Herald she learned of the plan when Honma visited her home and gave her and her husband the letter.
“They didn’t give us any idea that we had a say in the situation,” Shimazu said. “It was, basically, this is the letter and this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to build a 6-foot chain-link fence that’s going to go from the beginning of Naniakea Street, where we live … all the way to the end … and it’s going to go down all the other streets, as well.
“And there was no such thing as, ‘Oh, what do you think about it?’ It was, like, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ … You know, there was no option of having any type of community response to the move and the money that was going to be spent.”
According to Honma’s letter, the first two phases of fencing addressed Kawailani and Haihai streets.
“Over recent years, we’ve experienced a steady increase in unauthorized access to the golf course and have been dealing with repeat unauthorized use of the golf course by people for the play of unpaid golf as well as non-golf recreational uses such as walking, jogging, bicycling, riding of dirt bikes and (all-terrain vehicles), etc.,” Honma wrote. “These unauthorized uses adversely affect our paying golf patrons, increases safety and liability concerns for everyone on the course, and has resulted in intentional and unintentional damages to golf course property.”
Shimazu said she was told the cost to fence in the entire golf course would be about $1 million, and added she’s spoken to many of the neighbors, and “most are opposed to the construction of the fence.”
In her letter to the Tribune-Herald, she opined that the chain-link fence would adversely affect home property values in the surrounding area and said the project “should not be allowed to proceed without due process and input from all the people affected.”
“Please notify our community of what is being done with our tax dollars and without the consent of a majority affected by this project,” Shimazu wrote.
On Tuesday, Shimazu said the money “could be spent to beautify Hilo.”
“The fence is not going to beautify the golf course,” she said. “It’s going to put a prison-looking fence … against all of our homes. The golfers are not going to be uplifted by seeing a chain-link fence. The (money) can be used to beautify places that we go to very often, like Liliuokalani (Gardens) and Coconut Island.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
