{"id":9989,"date":"2017-10-01T02:26:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-01T02:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=9989"},"modified":"2018-06-06T22:36:23","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T22:36:23","slug":"revised-shoreline-setback-ordinance-is-a-step-backward-says-kauai-activist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=9989","title":{"rendered":"Revised Shoreline Setback Ordinance Is a Step Backward, Says Kaua\u2018i Activist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did the 2014 amendments to Kaua\u2018i County\u2019s shoreline setback ordinance weaken what was once considered to be one of the strongest laws of its kind in the state?<\/p>\n

Unlike O\u2018ahu, where shoreline setbacks are 40 feet from the certified shoreline, Kaua\u2018i was an early adopter of the view that historical erosion rates should be considered when determining how far from the shoreline structures can be built. Whereas O\u2018ahu\u2019s maximum shoreline setback distance is 40 feet, Kaua\u2018i\u2019s minimum distance is 60 (in addition to 70 times the historical annual erosion rate).<\/p>\n

But a few years ago, the county amended its ordinance, No. 979, to include exemptions allowing landowners to simply bypass the shoreline certification process altogether if they can persuade the Planning Director that their proposed improvements won\u2019t \u201caffect beach processes, impact public beach access, or be affected by or contribute to coastal erosion or hazards, excluding natural disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

This, says Wainiha resident Caren Diamond, has opened the door to all kinds of shenanigans. After reviewing the dozens of exemption requests submitted to the county since the new ordinance went into effect, she\u2019s found that the Planning Department has denied only a couple of them. While the vast majority of the applications were for projects located 100 or more feet away from the estimated shoreline, a few have raised red flags.<\/p>\n

In one case, a landowner received an exemption because the proposed work merely included repairs, even though Diamond said she has photos proving that the house itself lies well within the high wash of the waves.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, we used this house to see debris lines. The ocean washes almost three- quarters into the house. We had fabulous pictures. The house wasn\u2019t really set up on a good structure. The ocean is under that house,\u201d she said. But when the owners got an exemption for their repairs, \u201cthey rebuilt every single thing,\u201d and even added a deck, Diamond said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of that, especially the deck, is seaward of the shoreline,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Basically, under the amended ordinance, \u201cpeople are setting their own setbacks,\u201d she said, noting that applicants can simply write in how far from the shoreline their proposed improvements will be.<\/p>\n

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She expressed concerns about those projects where exemptions have been given for interior repairs or renovations, but then the landowners proceed to do much more than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cInterior repairs are not interior repairs. This other example that I found out here, they failed to get building permits … They are re-footing an entire house. … Nobody\u2019s really even checking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In another case, interior renovations for a Wainiha house located within an area estimated to be 45 feet from the shoreline received an exemption. In addition to whatever interior work had been done, she said the owner proceeded to build a rock wall and outdoor shower. With Diamond\u2019s prompting, the county inspected the site and later required the new improvements to be torn out.<\/p>\n

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She added that the property is a place that she and other public shoreline access advocates have used as an example of \u201cvery successful beachfront vegetative armoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has had really extensive armoring with naupaka and heliotropes,\u201d she said, noting that the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) had at one time forced the landowner to clear some of the vegetation, but it still remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was tracking the vegetation line over time. You could see it kept moving seaward, seaward, seaward. They said they have a 45 foot setback …,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Diamond said she\u2019s also keeping an eye on one Ha\u2018ena property, owned by Fredrick Kleinbub, where the county has granted an exemption for interior repairs to a house located about 40 feet from the shoreline. \u201cThat one has a really definitive shoreline. At the moment, the beach is scarping there … It remains to be seen whether he tries to armor it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To date, Diamond has tried to appeal two of the exemptions granted: one for the Wainiha renovations, and another for the Princeville Lodge development that had been proposed in Hanalei.<\/p>\n

While neither appeal is still active, the one filed by attorney Harold Bronstein on behalf of Diamond, the Limu Coalition, the Hanalei Watershed Hui, and Carl Imparato, argued that the county ordinance conflicts with the state coastal zone management laws.<\/p>\n

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The county lacks the statutory authority to exempt development from the state Coastal Zone Management Act, which \u201cmandates that the development obtain a shoreline certification prior to determining a shoreline setback line,\u201d Bronstein wrote in an April 4 appeal.<\/p>\n

Despite Bronstein\u2019s arguments, Diamond seemed to think some exemptions might be reasonable, especially for those properties that are located hundreds of feet away from the shoreline.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these, sure, it seems fair enough to give exemptions for interior repairs or if they\u2019re really far back. When we\u2019re talking about 500 feet, there\u2019s leeway. … There probably is some room for an exemption that\u2019s well founded, but not within the first 40 feet of the shoreline,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Staff with the state Coastal Zone Management program could not say by press time whether or not Bronstein\u2019s argument holds water. Staff with the Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Land Division, which processes easements for shoreline encroachments discovered during the shoreline certification process, notes that counties have always had the ability to waive shoreline setback requirements, including obtaining a certified shoreline. A formal opinion on the question Bronstein raised isn\u2019t likely to happen anytime soon, since the owner and developer of the Princeville project withdrew their shoreline certification application to allow the county to develop rules governing an appeals process for shoreline setback decisions.<\/p>\n

In some of these exemption cases, a state shoreline survey might have revealed encroachments into public areas that could require a Conservation District Use Permit and\/or an easement from the DLNR. In fact, in the case of the Princeville project, an exemption was specifically sought to avoid having to deal with a seawall that a May 2016 site inspection by state surveyors found to be seaward of the shoreline.<\/p>\n

County planning director Michael Dahilig did not respond to questions by press time about Bronstein\u2019s arguments, how or whether the exemptions are being abused, and how the ability to grant exemptions has helped the Planning Department fulfill its duties.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did the 2014 amendments to Kaua‘i County’s shoreline setback ordinance weaken what was once considered to be one of the strongest laws of its kind in the state? Unlike O‘ahu, where shoreline setbacks are 40 feet from the certified shoreline, … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[427],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-9989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-october-2017","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9989","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=9989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}