2021-02-18 Leeward Exh A (SMA 20-076 & SSV 20-012)

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DEFRANCO: Yeah, I think one of the important points that I heard Mr. Pieri say was about the safety of people walking on an unstable ground; if people are walking across the front of the beach and it's eroded underneath of it, that people could fall in. I haven't inspected the site, so I don't really know how severe that is, but, well, I just thought that was an important point. VITOUSEK: Okay, I will say that I have some, you know, pretty big reservations about this. You know, calling this anything other than a seawall would be inappropriate. You know, having originally reviewed this application with SHPD in 2011, the application came in as a seawall and was reviewed as a seawall. Because this is a seawall. A seawall in 10 years is the same thing as a seawall now if we are permitting it now. And we can't think of it any other way than a shoreline hardening structure that is going to serve the purpose as a seawall. Given that, we have to consider it under the criteria that's given to us for Chapter 205A in the request of the variance. And under the current application, the criteria needed to allow this variance has not been met. So, to me, whether it's a denial of this application or deferral and allow them to come in with a new application, you know, to me, that's procedural and it's sort of irrelevant. The point is that the existing application is inadequate in establishing the need with which we have in order to issue a variance for a shoreline hardening structure, which is a big deal here in the State of Hawaii. So we'll have to take that responsibility seriously in considering it, and I'm glad that we all have. So, I mean, in that nature and the nature of collaboration that Director Kern has offered, I'd be willing to give it a chance of deferral rather than a straight-out denial. Commissioner DeFranco. DEFRANCO: Yeah, I just wanted a little more information, too, because in the overheads, it showed all these other seawalls that are along, along the shore. I don't know when they were built, though, to how effective they have been to preventing erosion. You know, he, that particular property looks like the only one that doesn't have a seawall in front of it. Is that correct? Did I see that? VITOUSEK: It looks like that's one of the few properties in the area that doesn't have a seawall. It's also one of the few properties that's adjacent to a sandy beach and has coastal sand deposits, which is important to consider when allowing whether a seawall should be built or not. You know, building a seawall on a pahoehoe shelf where there is no sand deposits will have very little change on beach process because pahoehoe is not erodible surface. Building a seawall over a beach deposit adjacent to highly used sandy beach has a lot more potential for effect on the sandy beach, because the waves can take the sediment that would have naturally been used to replenish that beach and hold it back in order for people to have place to walk on and that kind of thing. And it's possible based on our lack of information that that could affect the beach process. So DEFRANCO: Right, I VITOUSEK: (Indiscernible—simultaneous speech) information, we can't, we can't make the call. DEFRANCO: Right, I agree with the deferral. I'm just questioning for clarity. My understanding (indiscernible—echo) effect on the shoreline. Thank you. 24 EXHIBIT A