KANE'OHE — The state is considering possible rule changes that would regulate activity at the Kane'ohe Bay sandbar, but some community leaders say existing rules are enough to protect Ahu o Laka.

Ahu o Laka — which is often submerged but appears during low tide — nearly became a state monument this year when residents pushed for the designation after a huge concert there last year involved fighting, drinking and littering.

Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed the measure, but the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said it believes it can regulate concerts through a permit process, and reduce abuses by increasing enforcement on long weekends when more people are visiting the area.

"We re-looked at our rules and we believe we have the opportunity to prohibit those huge concerts," DLNR Director Peter Young said.

Young is seeking further input from the Kane'ohe Bay Regional Council and the public. He said he wants to know if people want more rules, no new rules or if some of them should be altered. He'll address the council at its meeting tomorrow night.

Native Hawaiian groups supported the monument bill to highlight the lack of respect for the resource, which has historic as well as ecological value, said Mahealani Cypher, member of the Ko'olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club. The bill would have still allowed people to enjoy the sandbar, Cypher said.

"It was not meant to prevent anybody from going there," she said. "It was really meant to manage it better, that's all."

The department is able to address all of the civic club's concerns through regulations, but that may not go far enough if people continue to misbehave at the sandbar, Cypher said.

"In the absence of common decency or respect ... then you need rules," she said.

Kurt Mench, a past member of the Kane'ohe Bay Regional Council and a Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board member, said he wouldn't like any more rules and thinks some of the existing rules should be eliminated.

"I think we get ruled and regulated to death," Mench said. "Everybody is jumping up and down and making all this noise about something that may never happen again."

Instead of new rules, DLNR should provide better training for enforcement officers, he said.

"The general consensus of the people I talk to say leave it open," he said. "That's a place we can go with our boats, with our family, our kids. This is something we like to do as taxpaying citizens of the state of Hawai'i. This is something we pay for with our boat registration."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.