“Never turn your back to the ocean” is an adage that most of us growing up in our islands are taught from an early age. Yet that is precisely what two bills at the Hawaiʻi Legislature are proposing to do, by rolling back critical public input and permitting requirements for coastal development under the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Our legislators must not allow these misguided measures to pass — for our ʻāina, for our safety and resilience, for public access, for cultural practices and recreational activities like fishing, swimming and surfing, and for the public trust.

House Bill 732 would allow even more coastal development to proceed without a special management area (SMA) “use” permit, and its public hearing requirements that serve to protect both shoreline access and nearshore resources, prevent beach erosion, identify and address wastewater and runoff concerns, and minimize the impacts of floods, storm surges, sea level rise, and other climate-related events, among other important public interests.

Under this bill, coastal development projects valued at $750,000 or less will only be required to apply for an SMA “minor” permit, to be issued by planning department staff and without any input from area residents, fishers, cultural practitioners, and others intimately familiar with each project area. This dollar amount, a 50% increase from the $500,000 valuation that currently triggers SMA use permit requirements, will also increase every five years, to match inflation.

The premise of this measure is that the current dollar threshold for SMA use permits should be increased, to reflect increased construction costs. But should rising costs justify turning our back to our rising seas?

Houses and roads are already collapsing into the ocean. Storm surges and king tides that have already caused near catastrophic flooding will only increase in frequency and intensity. Our beaches — a foundation of so many unique island activities that boost our economy and quality of life — are disappearing. And sensitive nearshore resources like limu beds, coral reefs, and estuarine habitat are continually under threat from runoff, stream diversions, and marine heat waves.

Raising Public Awareness

All of these challenges and more will be easily exacerbated by coastal development that proceeds without the place-based information that only public awareness and input can provide.
The realities of our time make clear that we must increase, not reduce, opportunities for public engagement, to inform coastal development projects and minimize impacts to our ever more fragile shoreline areas and vulnerability to climate destabilization. HB 732 does the precise opposite.

But that’s not all. An added concern with this measure is its potential to encourage the practice of offshore speculators and real estate investors to buy, develop, and flip shoreline properties at the expense of our coastal areas and neighborhoods.

Many such investors seek to maximize their profits by grossly underestimating or simply misrepresenting the costs of developing or redeveloping their newly purchased properties, to evade the public hearing requirements of an SMA use permit, and the scrutiny — and protective conditions — that these hearings often result in.  Increasing the dollar threshold for an SMA use permit will only make this gaming of the system that much easier for these unscrupulous bad actors.

Meanwhile, another deeply concerning measure, Senate Bill 1296, would allow any structure damaged or destroyed by a declared disaster — natural or manmade — to be rebuilt without any SMA permit whatsoever. While intended to streamline redevelopment of coastal communities like Lahaina, this measure now risks perpetuating the very conditions that have made us ever more vulnerable to extreme climate events.

Redeveloped properties that may have been originally built without any consideration of impacts to public access, beaches, nearshore resources, or public safety and health will also perpetuate those impacts as well, to the long-term detriment of our residents’ future climate security, and quality of life.

In addition, speculators seeking to profit off of tragedies will find disaster-impacted real estate even more attractive under this bill, knowing that there will be little oversight over the redevelopment of such properties. The slashing of federal disaster relief programs, combined with the added pressures of profit-seeking investors under SB 1296, will only make disaster-impacted communities that much more vulnerable to “disaster capitalism” — as was already attempted after the Lahaina tragedy.

Reps. Mark Hashem (Wai‘alae-Kāhala, ‘Āina Haina, Niu Valley, Kuli‘ou‘ou) and David Tarnas (Hawi, Hala‘ula, Waimea, Makahalau, Waiki‘i, Waikoloa, Kawaihae, Mahukona) have been assigned to lead the final negotiations between the House and Senate on both measures, with Rep. Della Au Belatti (Makīkī, Punchbowl) also co-chairing the “conference committee” on SB 1296.

Sens. Lorraine Inouye (Hilo, Pauka‘a, Papaikou, Pepe‘ekeo) and Karl Rhoads (Dowsett Highlands, Pu‘unui, Nu‘uanu, Pacific Heights, Pauoa, Punchbowl, Pālama, Liliha, Iwilei, Chinatown, and Downtown) will lead the Senate side on both measures, with Sen. Stanley Chang (Hawai‘i Kai, Kuli‘ou‘ou, Niu, ‘Āina Haina, Wai‘alae-Kāhala, Diamond Head, Kaimukī, Kapahulu) also co-chairing the conference committee on HB 732.

Concerned citizens wishing to stand up for our beaches and nearshore waters can reach out to them via their contact information by clicking here.