Editorial
Access to shoreline requires enforcement

One of the many things that makes us proud and grateful to live in Hawai'i is that all of our beaches are public. No beaches in Hawai'i are private property, and most of O'ahu's shoreline is accessible through beach and shoreline parks and rights- of-way.

That may be changing, however. A story in Friday's paper presented a considerable amount of anecdotal evidence suggesting that, while the beaches remain public by law, traditional access is slipping statewide.

Pathways along private land that used to be accessible to the public are disappearing as homeowners grow weary of trash, noise and traffic on their property. Or they post "No Trespassing" signs that make it appear that the nearby public paths are off-limits. Hotels and landowners — and even county parks — are prohibiting parking, which indirectly cuts off access to beaches.

Some of this access erosion is understandable. "Because of all of the population pressure," says deputy fire chief John Clark, the author of the "Beaches of Hawai'i" series, "the public is coming down to places like Kailua, where these small, unmarked rights-of-way were formerly used only by families and neighborhood kids. When the public comes in, that means everything that the public brings with it — cars, dogs, traffic problems, rubbish, drinking, drugs. Homeowners are responding by putting up gates."

The difficulty here is that beachfront owners, powerless as individuals to attack the disease, are doing what they can to confront the symptoms. They can't control antisocial behavior on or near their property, so they turn to exclusionary measures. As a community, we must do better.

First, beach users who depend on access through or next to private property must police themselves if they wish to keep the privilege.

Second, existing access to the shorelines must be vigorously enforced by the city, the counties and the state. Unsanctioned gates and no-trespassing signs must come down.

Finally, government should continue to buy shoreline access wherever and whenever it can.

Three years ago, acquisition provided the ideal solution to a disputed pathway leading to a beach in Portlock, which a landowner had gated.

A year earlier, the city was able to snap up a couple of parcels in Mokule'ia that had become bargains in the wake of the burst Japanese bubble economy.

Such purchases have been wise investments, even if the money wasn't immediately available for complete park development. It is a form of land-banking that should be repeated, again and again, around our Islands.

Hawai'i has only so much available shoreline. Much of it is in private hands, with public access limited. Whenever possible, the city and the state should go out of their way to buy oceanfront parcels when they become available.

Gradually, we can reconstruct a publicly owned "lei of green" around our Islands, for views, for recreation and for access to the ocean.