LIHU‘E — A new bill seeking to update shoreline setback legislation already on the books moved forward Tuesday while environmentalists registered their objections with the County Council. Draft Bill No. 2319 was approved by a 7-0 vote on first reading
LIHU‘E — A new bill seeking to update shoreline setback legislation already on the books moved forward Tuesday while environmentalists registered their objections with the County Council.
Draft Bill No. 2319 was approved by a 7-0 vote on first reading and was scheduled for public hearing for July 22 by Planning Committee Chair Jay Furfaro, who introduced the measure at the behest of the Planning Department.
“It is disappointing to see the council promulgate a bill like this,” said North Shore coastal advocate Caren Diamond. “It baffles me that planning would even ask for this, and I ask for you to send it to your legal team and have them review it. … Maybe that will put an end to this discussion.”
Diamond said the bill undermines existing legislation — Chapter 8, Article 27 of the Kaua‘i County Code and Section 205 of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes — by allowing “minor” permits to proceed without getting a certified shoreline.
The bill, if adopted, would amend Section 8-27.8 of the County Code by replacing language saying a request for a structure or activity within the shoreline setback area “shall include … a current shoreline setback determination or a current certified shoreline survey and coastal erosion information” with a clause that the Planning Director “may also require” that information when evaluating a request.
The subtle change, just one of many numerous additions and deletions, seems to nix the legal mandate prescribed in existing legislation. Essentially, walls, fences and plantings — “all the things that damage the beach” — are no longer required to have a certified shoreline, Diamond said.
“Basically, what the county wants to do is skip all that and say ‘nevermind,’” she said, describing the bill as “really poor” in asking the council to reject the measures that “detract from a really good setback law.”
In a letter to the council, an attorney for Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law firm, expressed similar misgivings.
“This proposal contravenes the letter and spirit of the shoreline setback statute … and unjustifiably weakens the protections of precious coastal resources,” Isaac Moriwake wrote in the June 15 letter. “The shoreline certification is a critical first step in the management of coastal resources, without which no one can be informed and assured of the current, accurate location of the shoreline.”
Council member Tim Bynum said it was his understanding that the new legislation intended to create a way for minor improvements in the shoreline area — for example, an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp near Lydgate Park — to gain approval without costly and time-consuming legal maneuvering.
“I won’t vote for anything that undermines the integrity of the shoreline bill we worked so hard on,” he said.
Furfaro invited Bynum to join him at a meeting with the Planning Department during which he will ask for the department’s rationale in pushing for the bill and otherwise seek to clarify the conflicts with existing law.
The public hearing is scheduled for July 22 and the bill could appear in the Planning Committee as soon the following week.
Because there are five Wednesdays in July, the County Council will not be holding a meeting on July 1. It will hold full council meetings on July 8 and 22, and committee meetings on July 15 and 29.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com
