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"If we had our way, we would just leave it the way it is and maintain it. But they (state officials) are the experts."

- Doug Ray, Mana Kai Resort general manager

Residents of two Kihei properties are saying a regretful goodbye to naupaka and coconut trees that have bordered their properties for as long as most people can remember.

Nonresidents, however, should benefit from improved beach access.

Doug Ray, general manager at the Mana Kai Resort, said Tuesday that he had fielded complaints "all day long" since workers began ripping out naupaka Monday. But, he tells residents, "If we had our way, we would just leave it the way it is and maintain it. But they (state officials) are the experts."

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources initiated the beach cleanup, which a spokeswoman said will recover portions of public beach property that were overgrown and open up the area for improved public access and use.

The Mana Kai and the neighboring Hale Hui Kai condominiums are paying for the removal, and Hale Hui Kai pays twice.

The latter condo's manager, Ben Little, said not only is it losing naupaka, but five coconut trees were so undermined by the removal that they had to be removed for safety's sake.

The DLNR Land Division and Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands determined that naupaka was overgrowing the state beach. Naupaka is an indigenous beach plant. Over time, it can form a thick hedge that blocks footpaths.

DLNR also determined that the spread of the naupaka was artificially induced by irrigation, not only creating barriers but giving the impression that the area is privately owned.

Both properties are cooperating with the DLNR; each gave right-of-entry permits to get the construction equipment onto the beach.

In the case of the 40-unit Hale Hui Kai, the DLNR also is requiring removal of unauthorized improvements, such as stepping stones, irrigation systems and "concrete encroachments."

Little said the question of authorization is complicated.

In 1982 (the year before Little came to Maui), Hurricane Iwa ate up the beach in front of Hale Hui Kai. "I heard reports," Little said, that the state told property owners they could take steps "to protect their property."

Records of this alleged permission have proven elusive, but the then-owners of the condominium decided to spray Gunite to harden the sand. Unluckily for the current owners, Little said, that work was done "right on the boundary" with state land.

It is coming out.

Little said that in the 1980s, Hale Hui Kai attempted to get after-the-fact county permits for its protective work, but the exchange of letters "ran out" and ended inconclusively.

He said the county eventually decided "it was a state problem."

Little said he has done some reading and learned a lot about beach preservation. Unlike Ray, who believes that naupaka helps to prevent erosion, Little is persuaded that beaches need to "transition," widening and narrowing depending on storm action.

He said he can see already, where the naupaka was removed, that there is less sand, so that normal wave action will have a place to bring in new sand.

He just hopes Hale Hui Kai has "two or three" normal years for its beach to restore itself. Over the years, he has seen winter storms toss waves onto the lawn. It's the big konas, the ones that seem to come once in 15 or 20 years, that worry him.

DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward said, "The primary purpose of this project is to restore public use and access in the area of Keawakapu Beach. "

* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.