• Beachfront encroachment Beachfront encroachment Along with public access to remote beaches disappearing along sections of Kaua‘i’s coastlines due to land development and other causes, beachgoers are facing another alleged limitation on beach use, a problem known as beach encroachment.
• Beachfront encroachment
Beachfront encroachment
Along with public access to remote beaches disappearing along sections of Kaua‘i’s coastlines due to land development and other causes, beachgoers are facing another alleged limitation on beach use, a problem known as beach encroachment.
This involves allegations that property owners are purposely growing beachfront groundcovers like naupaka in a makai direction from their lots to add more land to their property boundaries. It seems to some that they are also trying to move the public further away from their high-value land.
The Constitution of the State of Hawai‘i clearly states that access to our mountains and beaches, and free use of beaches, is a right of all our citizens. In some states there are private beaches, and public beaches where beachgoers must pay a fee to go to the beach; thankfully Hawai‘i is not set up like this.
The County Council is hearing testimony on the beach encroachment issue. The County is involved in this issue because they are the governing body that issues what’s known as shoreline certifications. When they certify beachfront property the boundaries of that land are set for good, including land that might actually be part of the public’s beach.
Beach sands shift a great deal at least a few times a decade when extra-large swells hit areas like the North Shore. There is an argument that the groundcovers are needed to stabilize sand, and to protect beachfront properties.
There needs to be a balance here as the Council weights this issue following testimony given by experts on the subject. There have been legitimate uses of groundcover plants by beachfront homeowners, but there is also a possibility that this practice has been abused in recent years, especially in front of homes built since Hurricane ‘Iniki, which struck in September 1992.
The beach encroachment issue is not a new issue, in fact in ancient Hawai‘i disputes over land boundaries more than once caused armed conflicts between districts of the islands. In those days the ali‘i decided such issues. Today this issue is in the hands of our County Council, the local lawmakers of our Island. A just resolution is needed to keep this issue from becoming a beachgoer versus beachfront property owner conflict, a conflict that could turn ugly.
