Beach Advocate Gets Star-Bulletin Recognition

Nice 10 WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE: CHRISTINA HEMMING story by Gary Kubota in the Dec. 23 Star-Bulletin, about a Maui woman who halted development that would have blocked beach access:

In the country town of Paia, she is a rural legend. Christina "Uma" Hemming fought against the county and a developer and won. The beneficiaries of the victory will be the people who use the coastline from Paia to Baldwin Beach.

"She's an amazing person," said Hannah Bernard, president of the nonprofit Hawaii Wildlife Fund. "I really appreciate individuals like her who take on tasks and put their money where their mouth is. ... It's an amazing thing for a person to do."

Friends said Hemming was tenacious and pursued stopping the development, despite personal criticisms and monetary losses...

Click here to read the full story.

Yesterday, coincidentally I received my Obama "One Voice" t-shirt that says if one person speaking out can change a room, it can change a town, state or country. Today, while walking on Kailua Beach, my wife and I glimpsed Obama himself with one of his daughters in front of the beachfront home they're staying in for Christmas.

Can we change shoreline access laws and policies for the better?

You bet we can! But it has to start with you. One person CAN make a difference. In 2009, don't leave it for someone else to be that person. Take a stand. And if you can, please make a small contribution to Beach Access Hawaii, using the Donate link on the right hand side of this page. Mahalo!

Obama Staying in Kailua Beach

As reported in today's Honolulu Advertiser (Dec. 20), President-elect Obama and his family will be spending their Christmas vacation at a beachfront property on Kailuana Place, not far from L'Orange Place -- Ground Zero in the battle for beach access.

Longtime Kailua residents still simmer over the gate that was put up on Kailuana Loop in the early 1990s. Surfers and kids used to have easy access to Castles, a popular surf spot at that end of the beach. Then the Kailuana homeowners put up a spiked gate on a private easement they controlled.

However, those same Kailuana homeowners reap the publicly-financed benefits of living on a public street that our tax dollars maintain for them! If they want their own private beach access, let them pay for the upkeep on their own damn road.

I hope someone will ask Obama if he approves of this kind of "elitist" attitude among the Kailuana Place grinches, who deny beach access to their own neighbors.

MidWeek, Advertiser Articles on Beach Erosion

Call me Chicken Little if you want. But I believe my own eyes, and I can see Kailua Beach is eroding fast in certain spots. I don't doubt some of it is just part of natural cycles. However, it also seems that wherever man meddles with the shoreline, we see more dramatic changes in a shorter period of time.

Here's a link to Ron Mizutani's Dec. 10 column, headlined "Kailua Beach: Going... Gone?"

The Honolulu Advertiser also ran a front page story on Dec. 8 about the potential loss of billions of dollars if we do nothing to address Waikiki Beach erosion and the possibility of rising sea levels. Click here to read that alarming story.

What we need is a Hawaii Coastal Commission that would oversee our shorelines. The current split jurisdiction between the State and the counties at the high water mark is not working. No one is taking direct responsibility for protecting our most valuable resource. Meanwhile, our beaches are slipping away while our politicians -- and the apathetic public -- do nothing about it.

The sky may not be falling. But our beaches and open access ways ARE disappearing.

Time to be gateful... er, GRATEFUL!

Happy Thanksgiving! Let's be thankful for the kind people who live on beachside lanes that still allow their neighbors to use their streets to get to the ocean. Can you picture some of those gated-road homeowners at the first Thanksgiving? "Hey, Squanto -- get off our private property! Can't you Indians read? The signs say 'No Trespassing'! Go back where you came from!"

In effect, that is what they are telling locals and Native Hawaiians when they put up gates. So much for being good Christians and good neighbors, eh?

NEWSFLASH: One of my sources tells me Rep. Cynthia Thielen may be introducing a bill to move back the shoreline setback for building on Kailua Beach. If true, that would be great. But why isn't our City Councilwoman Barbara Marshall doing anything about it?

Speaking of more City government dysfunction, remember the yellow 911 beach emergency response signs that were put up in January? The Honolulu Emergency Service Department's Ocean Safety division made a big to-do about how they spent two years putting that together... Then a few months later I noticed Sign 89A at the Kailuana right of way on Kailua Beach was gone.

So I called the Emergency Service Dept. and was told they would look into it right away. Two months later, still no sign. I call back again. The guy tells me it's not their job to check on these signs, or to have them replaced! Turns out the Dept. of Parks is supposed to maintain them. Why didn't the Emergency Service Dept. notify the Parks Dept. then? After that second call, the sign was finally replaced -- just four months after the first one mysteriously vanished.

Thankfully, no one needed to use the emergency location sign while it was missing. But these signs are also helpful because they identify where the few public rights of way are. And the next closest public access to that 89A Kailuana right of way is HALF A MILE DOWN THE BEACH!

Yet Barbara Marshall says Kailua has plenty of public beach access. Really? Take a walk with me along Kalaheo Ave., and I think you'll change your tune real fast.

Setbacks Hot Topic at Beach Seminar

The State Department of Land and Natural Resources and Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands held an informative session Nov. 20 to discuss sea-level rise, erosion and other issues related to "Conserving Hawaii's Beaches for the 21st Century." The word they repeatedly used to describe the present situation is "triage."

Some beaches are already too far gone to save in their opinion. So they are focusing on shorelines that stand a better chance of being preserved if beach management plans are implemented in the near future. A pilot program is being planned for Kailua Beach, according to Dolan Eversole of the UH Sea Grant program, who is "on loan" to the DLNR.

I asked him if beach access would be part of the plan. He says that is really up to the community. However, he did say their priority is dealing with beach conservation. And that means doing something about the existing setbacks.

As I have posted here before, there are at least two houses being built closer to the ocean than the older existing homes around them. My concern is this will set off a race for other homeowners to rebuild closer to the shoreline in an effort to prevent their views from being blocked -- which is already happening.

At the seminar, Chip Fletcher, Chair of the UH Geology and Geophysics Dept., and Sam Lemmo, DLNR-OCCL Administrator, both said when houses are allowed to be built closer to the sea, there is more erosion in that area because it interferes with the natural sand dunes that help stabilize the beach. You can see that just by walking along Kailua Beach. Then go to Lanikai and see what the future holds if setbacks aren't moved back NOW.

Fletcher says that new beachfront house on Namala Place was built partially on State conservation land, and the DLNR is looking into it. But why did the City grant a permit for building so close to the ocean? Did they even go out and look at the site?

This City/State split jurisdiction is part of the problem. Fletcher, Lemmo and Eversole (sounds like a law firm, huh?) all said the current State/county division of responsibility at the high water line results in poor management of our shorelines. I think they're right. We need a Hawaii Coastal Commission that will provide uniform standards and guidance. And that applies to shoreline access as well.

We'll let you know when there will be public hearings on the Kailua Beach Management Plan. It's up to YOU to tell them beach access must be part of that plan.

One Small Victory...

Jeannine Johnson, an East Oahu ally of ours, sent the photo above with this update:

Thanks to efforts from members of our own community, as well as many organizations including the Niu Valley Community Association, Beach Access Hawaii, Kahea, Surfrider Foundation, Keep the North Shore Country, Livable Hawaii Kai Hui, Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center, and the Windward Ahupuaa Alliance, Niu Valley now has an official public right of way sign next to our access at Niu Valley stream bridge along Kalanianaole Highway and West Halemaumau Street. That simple blue sign means that for generations to come our community will be able to enjoy the beach and ocean in Niu Valley.

Another sign -- literally -- that change can happen if we persevere. Keep up the great work, Jeannine!

Happy Halloween!

This "ghoul gate" is on Kailuana Loop in Kailua.

It's actually a public street that our tax dollars pay the upkeep on, but the homeowners own the "private" easement.

Well, BOO to them for locking out kids and surfers.

We hear people still climb over the gate, but they better be careful -- dig the sharp spikes on top!

And just a reminder: VOTE FOR CHANGE ON NOV. 4. Yes, we can!

Disney Resort Plans and Bumper Stickers

Two quick items: the "No More Gates" bumper stickers are in, and we'll be sending them out ASAP to those who already made donations. If you'd like one, just click on the Donate button at the right. Please email your name and snail-mail address to Rich Figel (figeli001@hawaii.rr.com). For every $5 contribution, we'll send you three stickers! Due to printing costs, we couldn't do full color. But these still look great in black, white and red. Special mahalo to Jennifer Eisenberger of Windward Designs for creating the logo and layout!

Second item: In today's MidWeek (Oct. 22), Bob Jones makes a very good point in his "Just Thoughts" column about the new Disney resort being built at Ko Olina in Leeward Oahu. BAH brought attention to the limited public parking at Ko Olina, which results in residents being turned away and denied access to beaches there when it gets crowded. However, we've been told that there usually are plenty of open parking spaces -- they just aren't open to Hawaii residents!

Bob Jones writes: "...residents should not roll over and play dead. This is an overdue chance to demand more beach access parking for the public in exchange for expediting permits. Ko Olina got away with much too little in the first go-round. We should demand expanded public parking. Why give away our shorelines to tourists as the recent developments at Kaanapali-Honokowai have done?"

I may not agree with Bob on other issues, but on this one I say, right on!

Coastal Zone Management Report: Ain't Our Job!

Guess what? The State Department of Land and Natural Resources, Deputy Attorney General Linda Chow, county planning directors and Coastal Zone Management got together to discuss public beach access issues at a June meeting... without informing the public or any of the organizations that have been involved with this!

So they recognize shoreline access has become a major problem in Hawaii, but they feel it's just a "private property rights issue" because of where the gates are situated. Hello, some of these gates are on PUBLIC streets such as Namala Place and Kailuana Loop in Kailua. True, the easements themselves are on strips of land that are privately owned. But if the homeowners want to make that "private" land claim, they should also pay for the upkeep on those streets and for private trash pick up. Those properties should also be taxed at the higher rate that homes on "private" lanes are supposedly charged, since they want to deny public access to the beach.

The report also acknowledges that climate change and rising sea levels are major concerns for the future. Yet if you walk along Kailua Beach, you'll see homes are being built even CLOSER to the ocean -- and no one in the City Council or State government is doing anything about shoreline setbacks on Oahu. We've seen what happens when homes are allowed to be built closer to the ocean in Lanikai and Kahala, where it has accelerated shoreline erosion and beach loss.

But, as with most things, people don't know what they have until it's gone. If you don't make your concerns known to our elected officials, you can say goodbye to free beach access -- and the beaches themselves. Meanwhile, one wonders what the State DLNR and CZM are actually doing with our tax dollars. Oh, that's right -- they're protecting "private property" rights while our rights to public shoreline access are ignored.

You can download the CZM report by clicking here...
CZM%20report.pdf

Another Oahu Beach "Off Limits" to Public

This article appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser on Oct. 6. Further down in the story if you go to the link, Waimanalo Neighborhood Board Chairman Wilson Ho says the public has been going to this beach for 20 years and is just hearing about this restriction now...

Bellows beach policy a surprise
Air Force says stretch some assume is open to public is off limits - By Eloise Aguiar, Advertiser Windward Writer

WAIMANALO - For decades the public assumed that Bellows Air Force Station beaches were open to local residents on weekends, but an encounter with military police there has revealed otherwise and community leaders are studying the situation.

Kim Falinski of Kailua said she was walking on the beach between Waimanalo Bay State Recreation Area and the public campsites on Bellows when she and other people were approached by a military man in uniform riding a four-wheel drive vehicle. He asked for identification and told her the beach was closed 24/7, Falinski said, adding that she asked for a contact person she might talk to but was brushed off. Rather than confront the man, she said she left.

"I'm not a community activist," she said. "I'm just a community member. I'm told it's closed 24/7 and I'm told by someone with a gun."

Click here for the rest of the story.