Portlock gate installation highlights beach access issues statewide

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Calls to police and neighborly tensions have risen near a popular surf spot in Maunalua Bay where a homeowner erected a fence at the start of a beach access path.

The path in the Portlock neighborhood leads to a place known as "Seconds." The fence blocks the private access path to the shoreline, upsetting some beach goers.

"Hostility comes when you can't get to the ocean," said Ann Marie Kirk of Liveable Hawaii Kai Hui.

Kirk says something called prescriptive rights guarantees access, and she has photos from kupuna more than 100 years ago showing people freely accessing the bay.

But conflict over the issue is still widespread.

"It's not only here at Portlock and Maunalua. It's island wide and statewide," Kirk said. "I'm hearing from other people who are dealing with the same type of access issues, and it's really the lack of enforcement by our government agencies."

Across Hawaii, clashes between private property owners and beach users continue to flare up.

In 2012, a similar gate controversy flared up at the old Papaikou Mill Beach Road north of Hilo.

It was a battle which the Surfrider Foundation spearheaded, but to this day, is still unresolved.

"Even though we proved there were traditional access rights and the county agreed with us, but she still has a gate that's open certain hours and she decides who comes and who goes," Stuart Coleman of the Surfrider Foundation said.

Hawaii News Now spoke to a UH law professor and an expert on land use. He says Hawaii statues say all beaches are public, but the law is silent on access ways on developed land.

Professor David Callies says skirmishes have risen because Hawaii law does not guarantee access to the public beach.

"You start with the fundamental right to exclude someone from your property" Callies said. "There are not many instances in which the court held the right to use the beach comes with it the right to access it or cross private property.

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