{"id":12032,"date":"2019-12-01T04:34:56","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T04:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=12032"},"modified":"2019-12-19T00:43:33","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T00:43:33","slug":"board-talk-owners-of-sunset-beach-home-contest-proposed-fine-sand-burrito-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=12032","title":{"rendered":"BOARD TALK: Owners of Sunset Beach Home Contest Proposed Fine, Sand Burrito Removal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"

Unauthorized sand burritos installed below Gary and Cynthia Stanley\u2019s Sunset Beach property. Credit: DLNR <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One would think home buyers might want to conduct due diligence investigations before they close on a home along Sunset Beach that looks as though it might not survive the winter swells without some fortification. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One would also think the real estate agent\nfor the seller would provide information,\nbefore the sale closed, to the buyers\u2019 agent\non any government authorizations for the\nshoreline protection structure fronting the\nproperty, in this case, a single, temporary\nsandbag burrito.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to documents submitted to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, that doesn\u2019t appear to have happened with the as-is sale of a 1,600 square foot home, where new owners Gary and Cynthia Stanley had a contractor install additional burritos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stanleys are the most recent property\nowners in the area to face fines for allegedly\nviolating state Conservation District rules\nby installing structures on the beach to\nkeep their house from being dragged into\nthe sea.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a September 14 letter to Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) director Suzanne Case, the Stanleys admitted to being made aware of the property\u2019s serious erosion problems before they bought it, but claimed they were led to believe that they had a permit to add to the sand burrito that the department had allowed the previous owner to install earlier this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were wrong.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 8, the DLNR\u2019s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands recommended that the Board of Land and Natural Resources fine the couple $2,000 for unauthorized construction and charge them $1,000 in administrative costs. The office also recommended that the Stanleys remove the structure to avoid erosion around the ends of the structure (called flanking) and that the board impose additional fines of $15,000 for every day the fines were unpaid or the structure remained in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the couple\u2019s attorney, Greg\nKugle, requested a contested case hearing on\nthe alleged violation and proposed fines, the\nboard did not discuss or vote on the matter\nat its November meeting. By requesting a\ncontested case hearing, the Stanleys have\nlikely bought themselves enough time to\nkeep their sand burritos in place through the\nwinter surf season, when waves on O\u2018ahu\u2019s\nNorth Shore are the highest.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot Potato\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past several years, the department, through the OCCL, has worked with landowners in the subject area to manage severe erosion. Dozens of authorizations for temporary soft erosion abatement have been granted (more than 40) and sand pushing requests (to artificially recreate the storm berm) have become seasonally recurrent,\u201d the OCCL\u2019s report to the Land Board states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OCCL has been overseeing erosion\ncontrol measures fronting the Stanleys\u2019\nhome for nearly six years, beginning with a\nJanuary 2014 emergency authorization for\na sand push. The following year, a previous\nowner, Alice Lunt, requested and received\npermission from the OCCL for another sand\npush in 2015 for her property as well as several\nneighboring properties on Ke Nui Road.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Gary Karrass bought Lunt\u2019s property in February 2018 for $2 million, the sales pitch on HiCentral.com called it a \u201cprime ocean\/beachfront home\u201d that boasted fabulous views of the \u201cWorld Famous\u201d Sunset Beach to Ka\u2018ena Point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWatch pro surfers & whales during the winter months & turtles & monk seals during the summer months. … After a day frolicking in the sun, sand, & surf, enjoy the wonderful outside hot\/cold shower. Possibility of adding second ADU home. This home has a LEGAL VACATION RENTAL LICENSE. BEST DEAL FROM SUNSET TO PIPELINE!!!!!\u201d the site stated. (ADU stands for accessory dwelling unit.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2018, Karrass joined five neighbors in agreeing to the terms of another sand push. But by 2019, in the midst of remodeling his new investment property, he wanted something more substantive. On February 7, developer Jillian Spaak was given permission from OCCL and Case to install a single, temporary ballast tube wrapped in a tarp (a.k.a. sand burrito) at the base of a steep escarpment that had formed below Karrass\u2019s home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you proceed, you are proceeding at\nyour own risk. We will come take a look\nafter the swell and determine what happens\nnext (e.g. removal\/further permitting, etc.),\u201d\nOCCL administrator Sam Lemmo wrote in\nan email to Spaak.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her email that same day to Spaak and Lemmo, Case asked the OCCL to \u201ckeep an eye on the potential flanking issue, which may result in the temporary action authorized being revoked, if necessary.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the burrito in place, Karrass (author\nof the 1987 book, Negotiate to Close: How to\nMake More Successful Deals<\/em>) listed the home\nfor sale in June for $2.688 million and sold\nit in late August to the Stanleys for $2.55\nmillion. The sale was recorded in the Bureau\nof Conveyances on September 5.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karrass\u2019s real estate listing on HiCentral. com had remarked: \u201cTransferrable LEGAL VACATION RENTAL PERMIT! One of only a very few homes with a legal vacation permit on the North Shore. Exceptional investment home! This stylish house offers all of the amenities of an upscale hotel on the perfect stretch of beach with the best views.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stanleys, who own a home in Kailua,\nwere experienced in managing vacation\nrentals. Gary Stanley has an Airbnb listing\nfor a six-bedroom mountain chateau in\nColorado Springs.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Quite a Shock\u2019\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to their September 14 letter to Case, the Stanleys conducted some due diligence before buying the Sunset Beach house, which sits on a lot of just under 5,000 square feet. They had been informed of the property\u2019s severe erosion issues and had a structural engineer evaluate the home. The engineer, Horst Brandes, \u201cinformed us that this house was experiencing extreme erosion, was one of the worst he had seen, and that it was \u2018falling into the ocean.\u2019 He also pointed out that most of our immediate neighbors had geotextile blanket and tubing or a seawall grandfathered in like our immediate next door neighbor.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also before the purchase, the Stanleys said, they spoke with contractor Buddy Sheppard, who installed the initial sand burrito for Karrass and the extra sand burritos for them. They said Sheppard had \u201cinformed us that we had a permit that was good for three years regarding the geotextile blanket and tubes to mitigate any erosion issues and to fix the steep drop off. He advised that the current system needed to be fixed and suggested adding additional tubes upon the failing current damaged system and to add tubes up to a 45 degree angle up to our deck where there is a steep drop off. Based on this, we bought the property.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though Sheppard was the one who\ntold the Stanleys that there was a permit for\nadditional work, he apparently only asked\nto see the permit after starting his work for\nthem, according to their account. It was\nthen that the couple discovered there was\nno permit, they wrote.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They attached a September 13 email from\nScott Langford of Fahrni Realty, Inc., to\nJerry Adamany, the real estate agent for the\nStanleys. In that email, Langford included\nthe February 7 emails Case and Lemmo sent\nto Jillian Spaak regarding the temporary\nsand burrito.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their email to Case the next day, the\nStanleys apologized for the unauthorized\nwork and asked for permission to install a\nline of burritos up the scarp as Sheppard\nhad recommended.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[T]here is already significant water erosion up to the deck. … I note that the current fence is now leaning due to the erosion and that this fence used to go out about 4-6 feet further but was destroyed due to erosion issues,\u2019 they wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stanleys\u2019 deed states that they agreed that the property was being conveyed in as-is condition, \u201cWITHOUT WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATIONS, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.\u201d Even so, they wrote in their letter to Case, \u201cIt came as quite a shock that we did not have the proper permit as it was represented. Knowing that, we certainly would not have bought the property and most certainly would not have begun work without the proper permits. … <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have six children (kind of snuck up on us :)) and this is where we want to raise our children. We want this to be a safe place (severe drop off on deck) and also structurally sound. We thought we were doing the right and sensible thing for our family and our home,\u201d they wrote. (Currently, the Stanleys have listed the 1,600-square foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home on Airbnb for about $800 a night.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Dice\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than granting the Stanleys permission to continue stacking burritos, the DLNR issued a notice of alleged violation and order on September 18 after an OCCL inspection. The notice recommended that they remove all unauthorized structures. Otherwise the matter would be referred to the Land Board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the matter was brought to the Land Board on November 8, the staff report from OCCL stated, \u201cwhile soft measures are currently mildly effective at protecting beachfront development, it is understood that sea level rise will render these temporary measures increasingly ineffective. For this reason, the OCCL encourages beachfront homeowners living on chronically eroding shorelines to take proactive measures, such as decreasing their building footprint and relocating structures to the extreme landward extent of their property boundaries.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Stanleys\u2019 case, the agency stated it\nwas particularly concerned about flanking\nto the west of the structure and that it was\n\u201cpotentially damaging to the beach and\nneighboring residences.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[I]t appears that the Stanleys did not perform their due diligence in ensuring that the information that they were given regarding permitting was correct. … This case exemplifies brazen disregard for Hawaii Administrative Rules, which are intended to promote proper stewardship of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s natural resources. In recent years, such disregard has become increasingly prevalent along Oahu\u2019s North Shore. … [L]andowners are actively being urged to install these structures by contractors profiting form their installation. It is our belief that this case exemplifies such unauthorized activity,\u201d the report stated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stanleys\u2019 contested case petition argues that removing the burritos will \u201ccreate a physical taking of their real property interests.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One would think home buyers might want to conduct due diligence investigations before they close on a home along Sunset Beach that looks as though it might not survive the winter swells without some fortification. One would also think the … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,461],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-12032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-board-talk","category-december-2019","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}