Kaneohe residents
wary of piers proposal

They suspect the state's
focus on piers in the bay could
bring rent charges on
submerged land

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

A few years after her husband died, Jeanne Porter contacted the state to resolve a question about a pier in back of their Kaneohe Bay property.

The state's first response, she said, was an order to tear the pier down because her name was not on the permit allowing the pier and the state was not issuing new permits.

Then the state decided to allow Porter to keep the pier, but increased the monthly payment from $20 to $97 and charged her for about a year's back rent -- the time it took for the state to reach its decision.

What further irritated her is that her neighbor pays just $13 a month for his pier and protested when the state tried to increase the rent to $22.

Stories like this have Kaneohe Bay pier owners suspicious of a state Department of Land and Natural Resources plan to bring piers in the bay into conformance with state laws.

It's a proposal that may be a model for a possible state-wide effort to collect rent for piers over submerged lands.

The state estimates there are more than 200 piers along Kaneohe Bay, but only 21 have legal permits.

To bring people into compliance, the state is offering an amnesty program allowing pier owners to resolve any violations without fines or penalties.

But those who have not been paying are skeptical about the state's formula for appraising the value of the submerged lands under their piers, the lack of long-term leases in the current plan, the ability to transfer pier permits it they sell their homes, and the state's motives.

"It's about increasing fees and getting more money from taxpayers," said Joe Pickard, a member of the Kaneohe Bay Regional Council, at a public briefing last night.

Pickard does not own a pier but said he is concerned about the issue because it reminds him of when the state began charging to moor boats in the bay and then steadily increased the fees.

Cecil Santos, Oahu district land agent, said part of the mission of the department of Land and Natural Resources is to collect money for the use of state lands, whether the lands are above or below the water line.

"We have to take care of the lands, protect the lands, but also produce revenue just like any other property-management organization," he said.

Santos said the state is required to charge the market rent for use of its lands.

He said collecting money for the use of lands under the piers was not a priority for the department until last year, when the state decided to increase the rents.

The furor over the proposed increase caused the Board of Land and Natural Resources to rescind the increase and look at collecting rents from those who have not been paying.

But Alvin Madeda and Burt Kaminaka, who are among the 21 pier owners who have been paying rent, believe the amnesty plan penalizes those who have been following the law.

"I think the people who are getting antsy about paying are getting away with murder," Kaminaka said.

"We think it's really unfair. We should get some kind of credit."

Others like Richard Sweet have a permit from the federal government designating their piers as public and allowing them to not pay rent to the state.

"It's a confusing and complicated situation," Santos admited.

Part of the problem is that over the years, several different agencies including the federal government, the state territorial government and even the state Department of Transportation managed the piers.

State Sen. Marshall Ige (D, Kaneohe) said the issue is splitting the community and he believes the state should set a state-wide policy first and not single out Kaneohe Bay.

Ige said he organized last night's briefing to let officials hear from the community.

"I think they're getting the message loud and clear," he said.