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Board appoints members to hear appeal over zip line

Haiku neighbors challenging county decision to let business operate

By KEHAULANI CERIZO 4 min read

WAILUKU -- The Board of Variances and Appeals has appointed two of its members to preside over a three-way dispute involving the county, Haiku neighbors and an area zip line company that has spurred controversy over the last six years.

Northshore Zipline Co. is a seven-zip line tour in Haiku that has come under fire from neighbors -- who say the company set up lines without consulting the community -- and the county, which sent warning and violation notices to the company for operating without a permit in 2013 and 2014.

But in December, the county changed its tune when Planning Director Michele McLean announced the company could continue, citing its work to preserve the land's military history. Neighbors concerned about noise and other issues appealed McLean's decision in January.

Now, lawyers for the zip line, the county and the neighbors will have until Aug. 9 to file motions in what was recognized Thursday as a three-party contested case. Opposition must be filed by Aug. 16, with response submitted by Aug. 23. The first hearing date is slated for 9 a.m. Aug. 27 in a county room that has yet to be announced.

Board Chairwoman Juanita Reyher-Colon and Vice Chairman Raymond Sung will preside over the hearing.

D&S Ventures owns Northshore Zipline Co., which is located on 17.5 acres at 2065 Kauhikoa Road that were once part of Camp Maui, the training grounds for the 4th Marine Division during World War II.

In August 2013, the Planning Department sent a notice of warning to the property owners and told them they needed a special use permit to operate a zip line in the county agricultural district. The zip line continued to operate and in December 2014, the department sent a notice of violation and an order to cease operations or be fined $1,000.

D&S Ventures argued that it did not need a special use permit because the property's main use was to preserve, restore and rehabilitate the Camp Maui site. Guides go over site history during tours and old photos of the camp are posted around the property, zip line officials said.

The company pursued and was denied a special use permit in 2016 by the Maui Planning Commission, which said that the historical preservation uses seemed secondary to the zip line operations.

D&S Ventures won an appeal in 2nd Circuit Court in 2017, with the judge ruling the commission didn't follow contested case hearing procedures. The case was sent back to the commission, which held a hearing in October that was recessed until December.

However, in December, McLean said that the Planning Department and D&S Ventures had resolved a dispute and that "existing uses of the property, including the challenge courses with zip lines, are permitted in this case."

McLean added that World War II Marine bases, including Camp Maui, had training or challenge courses "that were known to include zip lines."

With the neighbors' January appeal of McLean's decision, the county and D&S Ventures are in the process of filing and amending motions to dismiss that appeal.

Likely, it will come down to whether the neighbors have standing to bring this kind of appeal against the director's decision, according to Deputy Corporation Counsel Richelle Thomson, who is not representing a party in the contested case.

The board declined during its meeting Thursday to appoint a hearing officer and instead formed a subgroup of Reyher-Colon and Sung to preside over the hearing. The two declined to explain the motivation for the decision.

Thomson said after the meeting that she anticipates the appeals process will continue in circuit court as well.

"There's too much at stake for both sides," she said.

* Kehaulani Cerizo can be reached at kcerizo@mauinews.com.

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