The Oahu-based attorney for Black Sand Beach LLC is accusing Hawaii County of mischaracterizing the events leading to termination of the lease for Punalu‘u Black Sand Beach Park on Saturday.

Read more County’s lease for Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach Park ends Saturday

Colin Sakumoto said Thursday that a statement in a press release from Mayor Kimo Alameda’s office that Black Sand Beach LLC — whose principal is Eva Liu — “declined the county’s offer and chose to terminate the existing lease agreement as of June 30” is false.

“My client did not terminate the existing lease and even gave the county an additional 60 days so further negotiations could occur,” Sakumoto said in an email. “Moreover, earlier this week, my client offered an additional 30-day extension asking only for county resources to be deployed in Punalu‘u, an area significantly affected by the recent storms, which the county outright rejected.”

Sakumoto said that after consulting with the Punalu‘u community, he is drafting a “conservation easement over Punalu‘u Beach Park to be given to the county” and will be submitting the document to the county for its approval. He added his client “is committed to ensuring public access to Punalu‘u Beach Park.”

“It is unfortunate that the county has decided to use Punalu‘u Beach Park and the people of Punalu‘u as political fodder,” Sakumoto said.

After Saturday, county-managed park services will cease, and the park facilities and improvements will revert to the landowner, according to the county press release.

“We know how important Punalu‘u Black Sand Beach Park is to Ka‘u and the entire island,” Alameda said in the release. “During negotiations with the landowner, we made multiple good faith offers that would protect the public interest but unfortunately were unable to reach a solution that is acceptable to the community.

“As a steward of public shoreline access, the county remains committed to doing everything within the law to preserve Punalu‘u for current and future generations.”

Since at least 1954, the county has leased the 6.8-acre site from successive private landowners to provide recreational opportunities and shoreline access for residents and visitors.

The current lease was executed in 1998 for $1 between SM Investments and the county. In 2020, Black Sand Beach LLC purchased 434 acres of land in Punalu‘u — including the park — and inherited the lease with six years remaining.

In 2024, Black Sand Beach LLC approached the county seeking new lease terms, including changes to the lease rent and duration of the agreement. The county proposed a new 10-year lease with annual payments starting at $159,300, followed by 3% annual increases, according to the press release.

The lease covered the county park facilities, including the parking area, pavilions, bathrooms and campgrounds, south of the black sand beach. The black sand beach — which like all beaches in Hawaii are owned by the state — and the coastline remain accessible to the public via a road at the northern end of the beach.

According to the county, the landowner also rejected an offer to purchase the leased property through the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission (PONC) program for the appraised amount of $1.46 million.

Purchases through PONC require a willing seller, and the county can’t offer more than the maximum purchase price established by the appraisal.

Ka‘u resident Guy Enriques, a former County Council member who will face Zed Aki in a runoff election in November hoping to regain the seat he once held, said the Punalu‘u beach has been “the gathering place for people for my lifetime, as long as I remember.”

“It’s the people’s place, and I don’t think the people are going to be happy with this,” Enriques said.

Enriques noted that Punalu‘u remains without electricity or water after Hurricane Lala devastated Ka‘u earlier this month. He also said Punalu‘u’s private wastewater facility is dysfunctional.

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“I believe it’s going to be a financial issue, and she won’t be able to do anything. So, I don’t expect much to get done,” he said. “And her stewardship of the place has been pretty poor, so I don’t expect anything great. I foresee something like a puppet nonprofit getting in there that she can control and go make money off of parking.”

Maxx Phillips, an attorney and the Hawaii and Pacific Islands director of the Center for Biological Diversity, described Punalu‘u as “an incredibly sensitive place.”

“The black sand beach provides important habitat for green sea turtles and is one of the very few remaining nesting areas in the main Hawaiian Islands for endangered hawksbill turtles,” Phillips said. “Hawksbills are already under enormous pressure from the loss and degradation of nesting habitat, human disturbance, artificial lighting, coastal development and climate change.

“I think the biggest concern is what this change in ownership and management could mean for beach access, our imperiled turtles, and the cultural and environmental resources at Punalu‘u … ,” she added. “Changes in lighting could be particularly harmful to nesting turtles and hatchlings. Increased nighttime activity, illumination, vehicles or other uses near the beach could disturb nesting females or disorient hatchlings trying to reach the ocean.”

Steve Wan, vice president of operations for Aloha Aina Tours, called Punalu‘u Black Sand Beach “one of the highlights of our south-side itinerary” and said the lease termination “has a significant impact on our tours.”

“Punalu‘u is extremely important to Big Island tourism,” Wan said. “It is one of the island’s most recognizable black sand beaches and is especially popular with cruise passengers and first-time visitors. It also provides an important economic benefit to businesses and communities throughout Ka‘u, because visitors traveling to Punalu‘u stop, eat, shop and spend money along the way.

“For us, the biggest concern is not simply losing a tour stop, but losing access to a place that has long been enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.”

State Rep. Jeanne Kapela, a Democrat who represents the district, said the main focus presently for the community “is is recovery after Hurricane Lala.”

“The biggest issue in that area is the wastewater and the lack of county water,” Kapela said. “There’s going to be a lot of need and a lot of money just to fix the basic infrastructure on that property.”

Kapela said she thinks the disaster “compounds some of the financial struggles (Liu) has had in keeping up with the wastewater and water access — both of which now are inoperable in that community.”

According to Kapela, the Punalu‘u beach “carries such cultural and community significance for the region.”

“It’s hard to think about the beach and tourism access when we’re just trying to get water and electricity and wastewater to that region and that area, specifically in Punalu‘u,” she said. “You have just under a hundred folks who live in that area and utilize that wastewater and still don’t have electricity.”

Kapela said she hopes Liu will come back to the negotiating table.

“To my knowledge, no one’s been able to reach her regarding water access and wastewater in that region. And that’s critical,” she said. “That’s the first concern. And then we layer on public access to the beach, and then we layer on tourism access.”

Wan said that while Aloha Aina Tours is “looking at other locations, including Pohoiki … there really isn’t a direct replacement for Punalu‘u.”

“I think the larger issue is that Punalu‘u is more than a tourist attraction. It is part of the identity of Ka‘u and Hawaii Island,” he said. “Whatever happens with the property going forward, I hope there can ultimately be a solution that respects private property rights while preserving responsible access for the local community and future generations.”

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Email John Burnett at [email protected].