A group sued the city Monday in an attempt to block the sale of vacant city-owned parcels near Haleiwa Beach Park.
The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of longtime North Shore resident Cora Sanchez, stand-up paddler Steve Baldonado and members of the Save Haleiwa Beach Park Coalition.
They contend the city has failed to follow the law in its plan to sell eight parcels, totaling 3.4 acres, in Haleiwa.
The city wants to sell eight contiguous parcels of preservation land near Jameson’s by the Sea restaurant and across Kamehameha Highway from Haleiwa Beach Park.
The two bidders pursuing the land are D.G. "Andy" Anderson, who wants to build an 80-room hotel, and the Kamehameha Schools, which wants to use the site as a cultural park.
Whoever wins the bid would be required to develop a portion of the property as a park and turn it over to a nonprofit entity to maintain it for the benefit of the public.
James Bickerton, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said Monday the law requires a special management area permit whenever the city plans an action that will reduce public access to the shoreline.
The complaint filed included an email to Sanchez from Mayor Peter Carlisle informing her that "the city believes that neither a special management use permit nor an environmental assessment is required for the proposed disposition of city property located in the vicinity of Haleiwa Beach Park."
However, Bickerton said the group believes a resolution introduced by the mayor’s office to the City Council on June 15 to approve putting up the land for sale between two bidders constitutes an action that would trigger the requirement for a special management area permit.
Under the law, there is a 60-day statute of limitations to challenge the action.
"We did not want to be in a situation a few months from now if the Council does approve it when the city says, ‘Oh, you’re too late with your lawsuit.’ It’s a timing issue," said Bickerton during a news conference Monday.
City spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said the city had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
On June 25 the City Council Budget Committee postponed action on the resolution to approve the sale of the preservation land after opponents and supporters raised questions about the sale process.
Limiting the sale to two bidders and the value placed on the parcels were other concerns raised by the community. Bidding would start at $300,000.
The city acquired the parcels in the early 1970s via condemnation and intended to use them as part of a 1968 master plan for Haleiwa Regional Park. Improvements, however, were not made and the land is still undeveloped.
