Haiku residents sue zip line after years of complaints
Operator calls it ‘a surprise,’ saying it has been working on a course remodel
Four residents last week filed a complaint against a controversial zip line company in Haiku, alleging the owner is knowingly and intentionally disregarding their concerns about noise, invasion of privacy and emotional distress.
Two of the residents who share a direct boundary with NorthShore Zipline and two others who are located on the next lot over say that “every scream is heard and felt,” during tours, according to the complaint filed on Feb. 23 in Maui’s 2nd Circuit Court.
The plaintiffs, who are represented by Maui attorney Anthony Ranken, have endured noise from zip line riders’ screams on an almost daily basis for over nine years, according to the court filing.
Daniel Coltart and Marian Prosser claim that visitors and users of the zip line have a direct view into their home and property, depriving them of “their privacy and their peace and quiet, for the sole purpose of Defendants’ financial gain and the continued operation of their unpermitted and out-of-place zip line thrill ride,” the complaint said.
Additionally, the screams and the visual interference of the zip line have negatively impacted all four plaintiffs’ physical and mental health as well as “caused them anxiety and stress.”
D&S Ventures’ seven-zip line tour, NorthShore Zipline Co., is located on 17.5 acres at 2065 Kauhikoa Road. The area was once part of Camp Maui, the training grounds for the 4th Marine Division during World War II.
Now, the company hosts thousands of customers a year in a residential neighborhood that is agriculturally zoned, according to the court filing.
The complaint also claims that NorthShore Zipline Co. workers manning the platforms on the property are also yelling “to make the ride more exciting for their customers.”
“They would shake the rope ladder as customers are climbing it to the top platform, to excite the customers and generate screams, and yell phrases such as ‘Hawaiian earthquake’ as they do it,” the complaint said.
Owner Derek Hoyte told The Maui
The operation deprives them of ‘their privacy and their peace and quiet, for the sole purpose of Defendants’ financial gain and the continued operation of their unpermitted and out-of-place zip line thrill ride.’ – Daniel Coltart and Marian Prosser, Plaintiffs
News on Tuesday night in an email that he could not comment on the allegations made while the lawsuit is being sent to legal counsel.
“We can say that the suit is a surprise as we have been working with Danny and our neighbors regarding their concerns for some time, including implementing a course remodel,” Hoyte said. “Our plan is to continue to work with the neighbors regarding their concerns and to continue promoting the rich history of Camp Maui.”
With Camp Maui being the largest WWII historic site on Maui, Hoyte said that the company recently expanded the historical items on display in the Camp Maui Museum.
NorthShore Zipline Co. opened in 2010 and has since come under fire from neighbors and county officials. In 2013, the Maui County 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, according to Planning Department documents.
However, operations continued and in December 2014, the department sent a notice of violation and an order to cease operations or be fined $1,000 per day.
The company then pursued and was denied a special use permit in 2016 by the Maui Planning Commission, but D&S Ventures later won an appeal in 2nd Circuit Court in 2017 and the judge sent the matter back to the commission.
The county reached a settlement agreement with the company in 2018, saying that business could continue because it was preserving the historical site, the department said at the time. A year later, however, the county filed a complaint in 2nd Circuit Court alleging that D&S Ventures had breached its agreement, which the company disputed.
Amid complaints over zip line operations near neighborhoods, the Maui County Council passed a law in 2021 that requires companies like canopy tours, zip line and bungee jumping operations in county agricultural districts running on fewer than 50 acres to get a conditional permit.