Posted on: Friday, December 27, 2002

Maui rethinks shoreline erosion

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui Bureau

WAILUKU, Maui — Maui County is using data on erosion rates to propose stricter shoreline development setback rules that aim to better preserve beaches.

But the rules have been slammed by a wave of oceanfront landowners who say that would place unfair limits on the use of their property without dealing with the real causes of beach erosion.

"It's ridiculous for the people who live here,'' said Marie Palmer-Ewing, who lives in Kihei.

The proposed rules are based on projected shoreline erosion rates calculated by a University of Hawai'i study along shore areas in South and West Maui and along the north shore from Waiehu to Ho'okipa.

UH researchers led by geology professor Charles "Chip'' Fletcher used old photographs to help determine historic beach positions and calculate shoreline erosion into the future.

Under the proposed setback rule, development would be limited to 20 feet from the shore plus 50 times the yearly erosion rate for that site.

The current setbacks are 40 feet for most lots — or 25 percent of the lot depth, not to exceed 150 feet.

Planning director John Min described the current rule as arbitrary and not having done a good job of protecting Maui's shoreline.

Min said the 50-foot multiplier is the minimum setback recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The 20-foot buffer would help deal with uncertainty in the erosion rate and other unforeseen coastal phenomena, he said.

But opponents — many of whom attended a standing-room-only meeting of the Maui Planning Commission last week — said the rules would lower property values and essentially unfairly take away property from owners.

"They're awful,'' said Ron Chapple of Kihei.

He said that if his house were destroyed by fire, it would be questionable whether he'd be able to rebuild under the rules.

Chapple and others in the Halama Street Homeowners Association said they believe the science upon which the rules are based is flawed because it did not take into account man-made reasons for accelerated beach loss in their area. Government blasted holes in the coral reefs there going back to World War II, they said, and that's why erosion rates are as high as 2 feet a year.

Min said the causes of erosion are already addressed by the county — through best-management practices and restrictions in current laws that permit only minor grading in shoreline areas, limit fill to beach-quality sand, prohibit the grading of coastal sand dunes and outlaw the removal of sand from any beach system in the shoreline area.