Expect more beach from state shoreline pact | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Expect more beach from state shoreline pact | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Posted on: Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Expect more beach from state shoreline pact

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

WHO'S AFFECTED?

The shoreline vegetation issue generally comes into play when a shoreline property owner wants to build a home along the coast. In order to comply with regulations on how far from the beach a building can be, an owner needs to establish a certified shoreline. That requires a surveyor to establish the line between private property and public beach, which must be approved by state officials.

State law says the shoreline is marked by the highest wash of the waves each year, not counting storms or tsunami. The law says this can be located by checking the debris line or the vegetation line. But the DLNR's rules suggest the debris line be used only if no vegetation is present.

In some parts of the state, the vegetation line is closer to the ocean than the debris line. That is particularly true in rainy areas, or where vegetation is irrigated.

The state and two public interest groups yesterday signed a settlement that should provide the public with more beach in many areas across the state.

Under the settlement, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will rewrite its rules to no longer favor the use of vegetation as an indicator of the boundary between public beach and private property.

"This has been a longstanding problem," said Isaac Moriwake, attorney for Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm that sued the state on behalf of Public Access Shoreline Hawai'i and the Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter. "People started saying, 'If it's the vegetation line, then we can manipulate the shoreline."

Oceanfront property owners have been known to artificially move the vegetation line toward the sea by landscaping the beach fronting their properties

"Here in Ha'ena, you can sit on a sandy beach and sprinklers come on and water you," said Caren Diamond, a Sierra Club member, who's chronicled problems on Kaua'i's north shore.

DLNR director Peter Young said the state for the past year or so has worked to recognize such situations and to use the debris line and other indicators in preparing shoreline certifications. He said he supports changing the department's regulation language to match state law.

Moriwake agreed the DLNR in the past year has been following the law rather than just its in-house rules, and he credited Young for that. Young agreed DLNR regulations could be more clear.

"It was a good outcome and a good discussion," Young said.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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