Resorts want businesses
off the beach

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By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> Two businessmen say they are being singled out in a lawsuit and that their ocean-activity operations are no different in many ways than others along Kaanapali Beach, including some of the resorts.

John Belles Jr. and Dave Flavin yesterday presented photographs in Maui Circuit Court showing cabanas and sailboats displaying the names of some resorts along the beach.

"Everybody has operations in a similar manner," Flavin said.

J.P. Schmidt, attorney for the Kaanapali Beach Resort Association, which is seeking a preliminary injunction against Belles and Flavin, said his understanding was that there is no prohibition against cabanas on the beach.

Schmidt said the association supports the state ban against solicitation on public beaches, and he criticized the state for failing to enforce it.

The association has charged that besides soliciting business, some beach vendors have been storing their equipment on the public beach and posting signs advertising their business. The injunction it is requesting would require the state to enforce the ban on business solicitation at the beach.

The state has said that enforcing the ban is difficult because it does not know where the boundaries are between state and private land.

Closing arguments are scheduled at 10 a.m. Wednesday before Judge Joseph Cardoza to determine if a preliminary injunction should be issued against Belles and Flavin.