People in Hawaii need to know the "rest of the story" behind the latest controversy over the "Great Molokai Ranch Trail." By any other name
this isn’t real campingNot everyone buys Molokai Ranch's
luxury 'camp' pitchIt has to do with Maui County's inconsistent application of land-use law. It has to do with the exclusion of public review prior to issuing blanket approvals for 14 visitor-industry projects to the island's largest landowner and real estate developer.
Recently, articles have appeared in the media reporting on a controversy over "campgrounds" being developed by Molokai Ranch on its agricultural lands.
In this era of "eco-this" and "eco-that," you're probably asking how "campsites" can be controversial?
In reporting the debate, the media have blindly accepted the "campground" label that the developer and Maui Mayor Linda Lingle have used to identify the projects.
Unfortunately, this has contributed to the public's puzzlement.
When most of us think about camping, we have visions of pitching a tent for the weekend or hoisting up a tarp next to the truck with sleeping bags at the beach. The cost is usually free or maybe $3 per night, if you want to camp at a state or county campground. It's a nice getaway most everyone can afford.
What does Molokai Ranch consider "camping?" For starters, you don't bring any camping supplies -- no tent, tarp, sleeping bags, water, cooking stuffs. In fact, cooking fires or camp stoves are not allowed at your campsite. The ranch chef provides three catered meals a day.
All you do is pay Molokai Ranch $370 per couple for one night of "camping." The price includes meals, airport shuttle and one activity a day.
Of course, for the big bucks you pay to stay on the "trail," the ranch doesn't expect you to stay in a real tent. Instead, the ranch provides a "tentalow."
These hotel room-like structures consist of a wooden door, framing and floors. The only difference between a tentalow and a standard rustic hotel room such as the Kona Village hotel is that the material attached to the wood-frame is a sturdy canvas-like material instead of plywood.
Guests sleep in queen-sized beds with ceiling fans overhead. Rooms include solar-powered lights and a toilet and shower with hot and cold running water. Food warmers are provided if you get hungry between meals. Each tentalow even has a spacious lanai with outdoor furniture.
A few steps away, there's a swimming pool along with a dining and/or activities pavilion to enhance your camping experience.
Other hotel services offered at its "country" resort, a characterization given by ranch management in a recent Star-Bulletin travel article, include complimentary transportation to and from the airport, 24-hour security, housekeeping and a coordinator to plan an array of ranch-sponsored tourist activities.
The mayor and her administration have shown extreme bias toward the ranch over other developers by exempting the ranch from having to address issues such as shoreline access, cultural and environmental impacts, or from having to provide grading plans, certificates of occupancy, or from seeking certain variances or permits required of other developers.
The only permit the county is requiring the ranch to obtain before developing its 14 projects is a simple building permit for each of its full-service visitor accommodation centers.
But not everyone in the mayor's cabinet agrees with what's going down. Prior to the county grant-ing any approvals to the ranch, Planning Director David Blane wrote a letter to Charles Jencks, director of the county's Department of Public Works and Waste Management.
Blane made it clear his department interprets the state law differently from the mayor, Jencks and the ranch. He suggested in his letter that a meeting be set up with the state Land Use Commission (LUC) to resolve any conflicts over legal interpretations in advance of granting any approvals. His advice was ignored.
On May 7, the state LUC issued a declaratory ruling in a complaint brought against the ranch that "overnight camps" are not allowed as a permitted use on state-zoned agricultural lands.
The ruling, in effect, voided the county's approvals -- meaning the ranch will have to seek the appropriate permits or zoning change (both processes require a public hearing) to allow its developments on ag lands, just as Lingle's administration required of Camp Wolford, the small Boy Scout facility recently developed in Haiku.
(The LUC later retracted its decision, after several commissioners were accused of violating the sunshine law by discussing the topic before the hearing. The commission is scheduled to hold a new hearing on the subject on July 17.)
The mayor issued a press release and said she did not plan to enforce the LUC's ruling because she did not agree with the decision. Lingle has no love for the LUC. On a recent Dialog TV appearance, she told viewers that if she's elected governor, one of her priorities will be to get rid of the commission.
PONO, a native Hawaiian group, has initiated court action against the mayor and the ranch over the campground approval issue. It's a classic David vs. Goliath confrontation. The county/ranch "Goliath" team has deep pockets to draw from, including the $9 billion in assets boasted by the ranch's New Zealand owner, Brierley Investments Ltd.
Molokai is the only major island left where the Hawaiian population is in the majority. Its history reflects many battles by community groups against government officials and outside developers attempting to compromise the public's right to due process. As with Pono, money did not dictate their actions. Principle and the need for the law to be applied consistently have been their motivating factors.
Pono's commitment to seek justice is fueled by these same values.
DeGray Vanderbilt is a member of the
Molokai Citizens Advisory Committee and the
Molokai Water Working Group. The opinions in View Point
columns are the authors' and are not necessarily
shared by the Star-Bulletin.