New Year, Same Old Politics

It's been awhile since I last posted, due to other professional responsibilities and lack of any real news on the beach access front to share. If you live in Hawaii, you've seen the TV and newspaper reports about houses on the North Shore that are in danger of being swept away by high surf as a result of beach erosion. What's been missing in those dramatic video shots and articles is any detailed discussion of accountability.

As I have been writing in this blog and elsewhere for over three years, Oahu's shoreline setback rules are dangerously shortsighted. The proof is what we're seeing on TV, happening before our very eyes. Yet it should come as no surprise to anyone living here since it's been going on in Kahala, Lanakai and around the island for decades. People build too close to the sea, which interferes with sand dunes and natural erosion/replenishment cycles. That leads to homeowners building seawalls or planting vegetation that hardens the shoreline break and hastens erosion further, until there is no beach left.

The only local news outlet to question existing shoreline setback policies is the Honolulu Civil Beat. Ian Lind wrote a piece about it, and today they ran a story about the county REJECTING federal funding for shoreline management purposes because they feel like there is too much paperwork and accountability that goes along with the money. And you wonder why nothing gets done to protect what beaches we have left? It's absolutely astounding that the Honolulu City Council accepts this rationale and sits on its hands with their heads stuck in the sand... except that sand is being washed out to sea, leaving their inaction exposed for the entire State to see.

Meanwhile, the other islands have said the fed reporting requirements aren't that onerous and are taking advantage of Oahu's idiotic rejection of funds -- if Honolulu doesn't use that money, they get more to work with. Here's the link to the Civil Beat piece.

Excerpts from today's article:

Every year, the City and County of Honolulu lets slide an opportunity to get more than a quarter of a million dollars in federal funding to promote sustainable coastal development. The funds, which the other three counties in Hawaii receive, is mostly used to hire staff to implement the Coastal Zone Management Act, which is federal legislation that was passed in 1972 to balance the needs of environmental conservation with coastal development. 

Honolulu county was receiving about $280,000 a year from the program until 2007, when Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting concluded that increased federal oversight and stricter reporting requirements were too onerous. “The funding comes with a lot of strings attached to it,” said George Atta, director for the county planning department. “It was creating a lot of headaches for us from an administrative standpoint.” 

Michele McLean, deputy director for the Maui County Planning Department, said, “It’s become such a routine thing for us in terms of the reporting. It really isn’t burdensome." Maui County receives $344,600 in funding from the program which it uses to fund four full-time positions. McLean, who called Oahu’s rejection of the funding “eyebrow raising,” said that Maui’s staff members deal with issues related to sea-level rise, coastal development and erosion. 

Atta insisted that the loss of funding does not impede the department’s ability to comply with federal and state regulations relating to coastal development. He said that other staff in the department’s land use permitting division have taken on the work required by the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Still, the lost funding would have equaled about one quarter of the $1.2 million annual budget of the land use permitting division for 2014. And though the county planning department hasn't sought such federal funding in recent years, it is requesting an increase in development fees, partly to cover coastal management activities on Oahu. 

Robert Harris, executive director for the Hawaii Sierra Club, said that the county’s rejection of the funds is indicative of the county’s general reluctance to address coastal development and erosion problems.

Whereas Maui and Kauai have been "relatively progressive" in trying to find the right balance and in planning for future erosion, "Oahu has been about the most adamant in believing those controls are unnecessary,” said Harris.

Statewide, 9 percent of Hawaii's beaches have been lost, mostly due to improperly located coastal development, according to a recent report from the University of Hawaii's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.

On Oahu, between 30 and 40 percent of beaches have disappeared, mostly as a byproduct of efforts to protect private property from encroaching erosion, said Dolan Eversole, a coastal hazards specialist at the University of Hawaii. The main cause: erecting seawalls to save houses.

Belated 4th of July Greetings!

The photos to the left are from the past two Fourth of July Kailua parades that Beach Access Hawaii took part in. My wife and I decided to take a long weekend trip to Vegas to avoid hearing the daily barrage of illegal fireworks in Kailua this year, so we didn't participate in this go-round. Things are pretty much status quo. No new gates have gone up along Kailua Beach as far as I know. But none of the other gated roads have opened up access to neighbors either.

BTW, last month while walking along a dangerous part of Kalaheo Avenue to get to our public beach access, I saw a young mother pushing a double stroller on that side of the road. When she reached the section where the shoulder of the road is nearly covered by dirt and debris from the adjoining property, she had to stop: half her stroller -- and one of her kids -- was jutting out into the road as traffic was speeding toward her!

She quickly pushed the stroller across the street while cars on the other side of the road were bearing down on her. I have repeatedly warned the Kailua Neighborhood Board and our City Council representative (both Barbara Marshall and Ikaika Anderson) that this is an accident waiting to happen. Remember this post when it does. Then I hope someone sues the crap out of the City for its inaction.

"Shrinking Beaches" article in Weekly

Joan Conrow has a good cover story in the Honolulu Weekly about an issue I've been harping on for the past year. However, nowhere in the article does it ask WHY nothing is being done about the situation!

It's pretty simple really: as long as we have split jurisdiction between the State and the counties, there will never be a comprehensive long-term shoreline management plan. We need a Hawaii Coastal Commission that has the authority to enact statewide standards and the ability to ENFORCE those rules.

But we can't get there without interim steps, such as a joint State-counties task force to lay the foundation for such a commission. State Rep. Chris Lee introduced a bill that would have done just that. But Sam Lemmo, who works for the State DLNR, actually spoke out AGAINST the bill! And we didn't get any support from the UH Sea Grant people either... the same guys who have complained about the split jurisdiction problem. So what's their solution? More of the same: do studies and hope something changes...

Anyhow, here's the link to the Weekly article. At least the issue is getting more attention.

http://honoluluweekly.com/cover/2009/12/shrinking-beaches/

Watch Your Step

It's been well over a year since I contacted our City Council representative to do something about the unsafe conditions on Kalaheo Avenue, since residents must now walk along long stretches of road to reach the closest public right of way. We were told that the area next to the street is the responsibility of the HOMEOWNER -- not the City or State.

Supposedly the City sent notices to those homeowners, informing them they were supposed to clear the pedestrian/biking paths of debris and dirt, or the City would do it and then send the property owners a bill for that service. But as you can see in the video I took with my new Flip camcorder ("shaky-cam") nothing has been done. There is now less than a foot of walking space in spots. Cars have to veer toward the middle of the road to avoid walkers and bikers.

This is an accident waiting to happen. One resident has already been "clipped" on his elbow by a car's mirror. Further down the same street, a woman on a bike got hit last year. Is the City waiting for someone to get killed before it fixes the problem?

Rep. Thielen Setback Bill Moves Forward

Quick update: HB593, which would establish a two-year moratorium on Kailua Beach shoreline building setbacks, cleared the House Finance Committee hearing on Thurs., March 5. There were 15 "ayes," and no votes against.

It will now cross over to the Senate side, where the bill will be assigned to the appropriate committees for more hearings. But so far, looking good!

However, we must continue to lobby the Honolulu City Council to do something quickly to protect Oahu's vanishing beaches. Building setbacks are really in their jurisdiction. A special election will be held to fill the seat of Barbara Marshall, who recently passed away. Our condolences go out to her family and many friends.

Although we may have disagreed with her stand on certain issues, she did work hard for what she felt was best for the citizens she represented. She also had to deal with a divided City Council. Hopefully, her replacement will be able to do more to protect shoreline access, and persuade the City Council to be proactive on beach conservation.

After all, if we continue to lose more of our beaches, and make it harder for people to reach the beach, what will happen to Hawaii's appeal as a world class travel destination?