PD Background and Recommendation Amendments to Planning Commission Rule 8 and 9

Home

PURPOSE OF ACT 16 The Legislature supported the changes made by Act 16 with a 2012 collaborative study that was completed by the United States Geological Survey and the University of Hawaii. The 2012 study concluded that seventy percent of beaches in Hawai`i are undergoing a trend of chronic sand loss and shoreline retreat. More than thirteen miles of beach in the State have been completely lost to erosion fronting seawalls and revetments. In addition, the legislature included the 2017 Hawai`i Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation report, which found that with just 1.1 feet of sea level rise, many more miles of beach could be lost to erosion if widespread shoreline armoring is allowed. Futhermore, the legislature found that increasing development along shorelines, increasing landward movement of the shoreline due to sea level rise and other human and natural impacts, and extensive beach loss fronting shoreline armoring necessitates a revision of existing policies and regulations. Such revisions would allow for the protection of beaches and other coastal environments from further degradation and reduce the exposure of shorefront communities to increasing erosion and flooding hazards caused by sea level rise. The Legislature also found that a recent study by the University of Hawaii coastal geology group identified several primary causes for the State's failure to meet coastal zone management policy objectives. Specifically, the study found that current policies, ordinances, and practices allow for: (1). The hardening of shorelines through a hardship variance that is granted based upon demonstrated hardship brought on by coastal erosion. When granted, these hardship variances set into motion a cycle of shoreline armoring that causes "flanking", or amplified erosion, on properties adjacent to armored shorelines. This continuous cycle of hardening and flanking can extend along an entire beach and, in a section of northeast Oahu, approximately forty-five per cent of observed shoreline hardening was implemented in response to adjacent hardening. This cycle, caused by a combination of beach erosion and coastal policy, has resulted in the narrowing and even elimination of beaches to the extent that they can no longer be used for public recreation or cultural practice; and -2-