Residents of an oceanfront East Honolulu mansion have settled state claims that they misused state land around their home and deterred public access to the beach, but conflict over getting to the secluded sandy shoreline of Paiko Peninsula appears far from resolved.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources signed a settlement in February with Garrett Saikley, a retired radiologist who owns a home at the end of the peninsula, and another resident at the estate, Robert Carpenter.

Saikley and Carpenter agreed to pay $9,000 but admitted no wrongdoing, according to the agreement.

The settlement resolves a dispute that stretches back more than a decade between DLNR and the two individuals.

Yet a contentious divide remains over whether a road that fronts the beach and leads to Saikley’s house amid a state wildlife sanctuary is open to the public.

Saikley, who has legal use of the road, insists it isn’t. And some of his neighbors who own an adjacent piece of the road agree. Other neighbors, DLNR and some broader community members disagree.

At a Kuliouou-Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board meeting in early April, a mother and surfer from Pauoa Valley said she was accused of trespassing on two occasions in March — once by Carpenter and once by one of his neighbors.

“I felt harassed,” Tammy Becker told the board. “I felt terrorized.”

The road begins where the city’s Paiko Drive ends, and is made up of a short rutted stretch owned by four homeowners that connects to a state-owned gravel causeway running to Saikley’s home, the state-owned Paiko Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary and the beach used by surfers, fishermen and others.

John Lederer, a homeowner whose lot includes a share of the private road, told the board that his property deed indicates no public access easement over what serves as his driveway.

“This is not a beach access,” he said.

Lederer said he and his neighbors get harassed when they politely try to inform people that a beach access marked by a city sign exists farther back on Paiko Drive.

However, DLNR has said the four homeowners have an obligation to allow “unfettered” public access over the privately owned road, according to a 2005 memo from DLNR property title researcher Doris Moana Rowland.

Susan Childs, Lederer’s neighbor who has lived in her home for 32 years, said she had the run-in with Becker in which Becker said she was threatened with arrest for trespassing. Childs apologized if her actions appeared offensive. She added that she tries to protect the lagoon from vagrants and drug users who hide out in the brush covering much of the peninsula.

“We protect the lagoon,” Childs said.

Still, the owners of the short road clearly try to deter all access with signs they have posted that say “Private driveway,” “No trespassing” and “No beach access.”

Saikley and Carpenter say they have nothing to do with those signs, but they contend that public use of the state-owned causeway is only for people who obtain permits to visit the wildlife sanctuary, because the state road is part of the sanctuary.

DLNR signs on the edge of the lagoon say entering the wildlife sanctuary is prohibited without a permit and that fishing, camping, fires and dogs are not allowed.

So beachgoers, Saikley said, should use the city designated access. “It’s so close,” he said. “If it were a mile away, I’d look at it differently.”

Carpenter said the run-in with Becker happened because she parked on the road while he was compacting a new surface of granite gravel. “She wouldn’t move her vehicle,” Carpenter said.

Becker described the encounter to the neighborhood board as an attempt to run her off the beach: “He said, ‘Of all the (expletive) beaches you had to come here? Get the (expletive) out of here.’”

DLNR has appeared supportive of the road as a public beach access avenue, and recently delineated a path to the beach from the road.

Saikley and Carpenter argue that DLNR officials have mistreated them and misled the public.

“We are so frustrated by the whole thing,” Carpenter said.

The clash between DLNR and Saikley and Carpenter dates to 2003.

About a year after the retired doctor bought the home in 2002 for $2.65 million, DLNR said in a report that it investigated dirt mounds dumped along the lagoon’s edge and was told by Carpenter that the dirt was for filling the home’s swimming pool and would be removed.

In 2004, DLNR documented that a “No trespassing” sign had been installed on state land fronting the beach, according to the report that also said Saikley was calling police, claiming that people were trespassing on state land.

Another DLNR allegation was that Saikley cleared a construction access road as part of rebuilding the house, which is now listed for sale at $11.2 million, and placed two construction dumpsters on state land after requesting a permit that DLNR didn’t approve. Saikley said no road was cleared and that a contractor failed to follow through on obtaining a permit and paid a fine.

Those alleged violations led DLNR to file a cease-and-desist order against Saikley in 2005, followed by an enforcement action in 2006. Saikley challenged that action through a contested-case hearing. Settlement discussions ensued, but it didn’t appear the case was resolved.

A new enforcement case was initiated by DLNR’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands in 2014 after more public complaints were made against Saikley altering state land without permission and calling the police to say people on state land were trespassing.

“OCCL considers these violations serious in that they appear to be aimed at denying the public access to state lands,” Michael Cain, a staff planner with the office, stated in a report submitted last year to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources with a recommendation that Saikley be fined $38,250.

The agency said it found several improper uses of state land, including numerous “No trespassing” signs at the entrance to the state preserve and along the shoreline, boulders placed along the shoreline, curbing created on the state road using soccer ball-size rocks and vegetation cleared for a 3,000-foot guest parking lot.

DLNR officials also claimed that Saikley’s home was marketed as a commercial wedding site at a cost of $5,000 per wedding and that the wildlife sanctuary has been used for event parking and professional photo shoots.

Saikley and Carpenter disputed all the allegations. They said state rules allow them to do minor repair and maintenance work on what is the only access to their home.

An attorney representing Saikley told DLNR in a letter that weddings have been held only for friends, family and neighbors.

Carpenter said he had “No trespassing” signs made and installed along the roadside after discussing it with DLNR staff to replace missing state signs.

As part of the settlement, Saikley and Carpenter agreed not to do any work outside the roadway, and must advise the state in writing of plans for any roadway work that might or might not require permits. The state is obliged to respond within 30 days, or the proposed work will be automatically allowed.

The settlement, however, makes no representations regarding public access, leaving confusion and opposing views to fester, as was evident at the recent neighborhood board meeting.

“It shouldn’t be happening,” said board member Sheridan Spangler, referring to altercations over beach access. “We need to deal with it.”

Ann Marie Kirk, a member of the nonprofit Livable Hawaii Kai Hui, told the board that the state attorney general should be asked for an opinion regarding public access over the road, which she contends is open to everyone.

Boise Correa, a former Honolulu police chief who has lived on Paiko Drive for close to 70 years, said at the meeting that he believes all sides should work to resolve a matter that is confusing because historically the peninsula road was considered private.

“The people in Paiko are good people,” he said, adding that he hopes DLNR can post new signs on the contested road that clarify the situation once and for all.