Mooring, wharf fee, landing fee hikes proposed
Proposed fees and rules for use of Hawaii’s small-boat harbors — including a nearly threefold hike in catwalk mooring fees at Lahaina Small Boat Harbor — offshore moorings, landings and wharfs will be the subject of a public hearing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 6 at the Velma McWayne Santos Community Center in Wailuku.
In announcing the public hearings, the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Ocean Resources, which manages 16 harbors and facilities, last increased fees for utility and facility use nearly 25 years ago and for moorings seven years ago.
The amendments to fees and rules are an effort by the division to align small-boat harbor and boating facility fees with current market rates, the DLNR news release said. Proposed fee hikes include those for moorings, utilities, facility-use, storage, ramp and commercial permit fees.
More than 10,000 boaters were informed of the proposed increases and were asked for comments and feedback, the news release said.
The proposed rule amendments can be viewed online at dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/ files/2018/09/180918-Chapter-13-234-and-13-253-for-Public-Hearing-with-Date.pdf. It also can be viewed in person from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at the Maui division office, located at 101 Maalaea Boat Harbor Road in Maalaea.
The old rates for moorings had a fee schedule based on groupings of facilities. For example, the Lahaina harbor Schedule B rate for a catwalk mooring is $4.32 a foot of boat length; it would rise to $11 a foot; the Tahiti mooring rate would be $7.47 a foot.
The proposed mooring rates by Maui County small-boat harbor and catwalk by foot and Tahiti moorings by foot follow:
• Maalaea harbor – $10, $6.
• Manele harbor, Lanai — $10, no Tahiti mooring.
• Kaunakakai harbor — $9, $5.
The Wailuku site is disability accessible and anyone with special needs should call Clifford Inn at (808) 587-1972 at least one week prior to the meeting.