Herron continues fight
for access at Turtle Bay

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By Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.com

A North Shore hotel's new policy of barring fisherman and surfers from an oceanfront rock wall on its property is drawing continued fire from a Punaluu resident, who after speaking with hotel representatives yesterday vows she will take the case to court.

Didi Herron, a part-Hawaiian, said she had fished for decades from the rock wall next to the swimming pool area of the 470-room Turtle Bay Resort, but that ended in May, when hotel security asked her to leave.

Yesterday's meeting was the first time Herron has talked with the hotel owner, which is being represented by retired Supreme Court Justice Robert Klein and consultant Linda Rosehill.

"Our position is we provide access to the public. We're very clear where the access is ... around a good part of the property, but that particular section of rock, we just feel that it's too dangerous," said Rosehill, who works for Oaktree Capital Management LLC, the Los Angeles owner of the Turtle Bay Resort.

Shortly after Herron complained in June to the Koolauloa Neighborhood Board about fishing access, Turtle Bay issued a press release noting it had 12 miles of trails and seaside pathways on its 880-acre property, as well as five miles of beach.

But that's beside the point to Herron. She wants to fish where she has always fished. As part of its $40 million renovation, Turtle Bay needs to go through a city permitting process that allows for review of ocean-access issues. Herron plans to speak against the permits in City Council hearings.

Justice Klein has said the section of land where Herron wants to fish is fully developed. That means the property is not covered by Klein's 1995 Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed the right of Native Hawaiian traditional cultural practices on private shoreline property. Herron said she wants to fight that interpretation.

Herron said she plans to ask the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs for help. In addition to having written the Supreme Court decision, Klein was recently named as counsel for OHA.