KAILUA-KONA — The public is getting its chance to weigh in on a plan to install new moorings and replace old ones at Keauhou Bay — a proposal which has drawn fire from the public and a lawsuit from the Keauhou Canoe Club.
On Friday, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will hold a public hearing on a recently finished draft environmental assessment for the project. The Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation will conduct the hearing at the Kealakehe High School cafeteria from 6-8 p.m.
The purpose of the public comment is to help the state refine its plan, which would increase the number of moorings from nine to 16 and concentrate their location on the south side of the harbor. But residents who oppose the concept say the state has failed to listen from the beginning.
“Adding seven more power boats to an already crowded bay will eventually result in serious injury or fatality for a swimmer, kayaker, or paddler,” said Keauhou Canoe Club member Milton Sylwester.
The new moorings will benefit only a few while conflicting with paddling, snorkeling, swimming and other non-motorized uses, according to opponents who also say such development isn’t appropriate in the birthplace of King Kamehameha III.
Residents gathered more than 2,000 signatures against the plan in 2013.
The canoe club sued the state in 2013, saying it failed to follow its own rules when it allowed the plan to move ahead without an environmental assessment. DLNR settled with the club in May of 2014 by agreeing to conduct the study.
The EA released last month found no significant impacts to the ecosystem or cultural sites at the bay, and DLNR officials say there is a severe shortage of moorings on the Big Island and around the state. The project would replace and better organize the aged and makeshift moorings, which lack proper engineering and permitting, according to the state.
Asked to respond to the level of public opposition to the plan and whether the state is pushing ahead despite it, DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward referred to the objectives laid out in the EA.
Along with better protection for the bay’s coral, the project would bring the moorings into compliance with state and federal regulations, according to the EA. Some of the existing moorings intrude on the navigation channel used by vessels to enter and exit the harbor. Many are poorly constructed, using concrete blocks and even a train wheel, underwater surveys by consultant Anchor QEA showed. The existing moorings damage coral with dragging anchors and chains and poor placement, according to the EA.
The state could also install new moorings but leave the number the same, or leave the bay as it is, under two other alternatives that DOBOR does not prefer.
Opponents estimate each mooring will cost around $50,000 by the time the process is complete, and say the bay is too narrow and exposed to the elements to shelter more boats.
Keauhou Canoe Club President Bill Armer has said the EA is shallow and insubstantial. In an interview Tuesday, Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen agreed.
“I’ve heard overwhelming opposition from everyone,” Lowen said. “The EA says there won’t be impacts to the cultural resources of the bay, but it doesn’t explain how it arrived at that conclusion.”
The project fell out of the governor’s favor under the Abercrombie administration, Lowen said. Under a new governor, “DOBOR is back pushing it, with no regard for the fact that nobody wants it,” she said.
“I’m puzzled why they would push ahead,” Lowen said. “It’s not revenue-generating. I’m hoping at the meeting we’ll get good turnout and our voices will be heard.”
