MARCONI POINT PROPERTY OWNER DONATES LAND AFTER RESOURCES DESTRUCTION 

News Release from DLNR, July 12, 2024 

(HONOLULU) – One owner at the Marconi Point Condominium Property Regime (CPR) at Kahuku Point on O‘ahu’s North Shore has offered to donate her 4.71 acres at Marconi Point to the North Shore Community Land Trust. The offer was accepted to settle the state’s claims against the property owner.

Today, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) unanimously approved the settlement with Yue-Sai Kan and the Yue-Sai Kan Trust. The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) had recommended that the board fine Ms. Kan $1,547,500 after an employee intentionally killed Ho‘okipa, a female indigenous mōlī (Laysan albatross), erected unauthorized fences in the Conservation District in a known albatross nesting area, and allowed the devastation of the coastal habitat for endangered nalo meli maoli (Hawaiian yellow-faced bees) across the property.

The actions outraged North Shore residents and conservation groups, particularly since a wrought iron fence erected on the property contributed to the death of Ho‘okipa, the Laysan albatross. The fence has already been removed.

The North Shore Community Land Trust is a nonprofit land conservation and stewardship group, described in the board submittal as conducting “outstanding and exemplary work in the area of Marconi Point, specifically at the Turtle Bay Conservation Easement and at Kahuku Point.”

Land trust Executive Director Adam Borrello said, “This land provides the trust with strategic access to our restoration and stewardship project at Kaleaokana‘oa. We will make the highest use of this opportunity to advance our efforts to fully restore this amazing coastal dune environment for the benefit and enjoyment of native species and all those who respectfully visit this culturally and environmentally significant place.”

BLNR Chair Dawn Chang said the settlement is in the state’s best interest. “Agreeing to accept Kan’s offer furthers DLNR’s mission of protecting and preserving and protecting cultural resources, endangered and rare species. This donation also supports DLNR’s collaboration with ‘aina-based partners to steward cultural and ecologically sensitive lands by having contiguous high-quality coastal strand habitat for the conservation and protection of these species,” Chang said.

The submittal from the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and the DLNR Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) notes that the “settlement does not compensate the state for the devastating loss of the albatross, the bees, or of high-quality habitat, but ensures that Unit 1 (the donated land) is preserved for the benefit of those same species and restored with their survival in mind.”

During the April 26, 2024, BLNR meeting, Kan’s attorney requested a contested case hearing. As a result, the board did not vote on recommendations for the proposed fines. In May, her attorney requested mediation rather than the contested case hearing and thereafter, contacted the Dept. of the Attorney General and proposed the settlement. With the board’s approval, the DLNR has agreed to not pursue criminal charges and Kan is not required to admit fault, liability, guilt, or obligation.

Kan’s attorney, Eric S. Robinson said, “This settlement is a unique and unprecedented outcome, and further underscores Ms. Kan’s commitment to philanthropy, conservation, and the community.”

Today, the BLNR also heard the status of enforcement actions against other Marconi CPR owners. The board delegated authority to Chair Chang to appoint a hearing officer for contested case hearings for eight individuals or limited liability corporations, some of whom had requested mediation. Both DOFAW and OCCL recommended not approving mediation. While Kan’s fine was the largest against the Marconi CPR owners, the proposed fines totaled more than $3.2 million.

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RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

HD video – Marconi Point enforcement (Oct. 17 and 18, 2023)

HD video – Board of Land and Natural Resources Meeting, select testimony (July 12, 2024)

(transcriptions attached)

Photographs – Board of Land and Natural Resources Meeting (July 12, 2024)

Photographs – Marconi Point enforcement (Oct. 17 and 18, 2023)

Photographs – Ho‘okipa and illegal fencing

SA: Marconi Point condo owner donates North Shore property, avoids fines for alleged habitat destruction