HALEIWA, Hawaii (KHON2) — Winter is approaching which means big surf for Oahu’s North Shore.
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A decent-size north, northwest swell is set to arrive on Monday and many are anxious to see what happens to the sand near Sunset Beach, now that two homes are being demolished due to erosion.
One home on Ke Nui Road was demolished two weeks ago after it started falling into the ocean after a swell 10-foot swell arrived in late September. The state and city said the landowner’s second home would also be demolished last week, but as of Sunday, it was still standing.
Second home to be demolished on North Shore A 12-foot swell is set to fill in on Monday which is slightly larger than the swell that claimed the first home two weeks ago.
“The swell is definitely going to pick up tomorrow,” said Ken Bradshaw, who lives at Sunset Beach and nearby where the homes are being threatened by seasonal erosion. “It’s going to surge up the beach higher than it did during the last swell.”
Following the emergency demolition permit on the first home on Sept. 26, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the city and county of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting issued a joint statement:
DLNR is concerned with the unpredictable situation, as more of the coastal dune beneath the residences is undermined, this will potentially place other neighboring homes in a similar predicament.
The joint release encouraged homeowners to take proactive measures as wave energy would shift sand and undercut the nearby properties putting the integrity of the structure at risk. “The threats to public health and safety of residents and beachgoers are real concerns, ” the statement added.
The city and state said the landowner is responsible for the demolition of the home. The city added that the second property would be demolished last week, however, on Sunday the home, which is gutted on the inside, was still standing on the edge.
“We’re going to see the further undermining of the foundation and the concrete structure and if they don’t demolish quickly then I fear more debris is going to wash onto the beach,” said Rep. Sean Quinlan (D) Waialua, Sunset Beach, Kahana.
North Shore sand erosion history and what’s next Both the state and city encouraged homeowners to take proactive measures to avoid potential damage to their property, as well as impacts to state/county lands and public beaches. The joint release added, “If the private landowners fail to take appropriate action, the DLNR and DPP may be compelled to take administrative or legal action to protect the public health and safety.”
“The homeowners have asked for emergency permits so they can keep or install new [sand] burritos,” Quinlan explained .”Unfortunately, burritos create kind of a mess in the nearshore environment, they’re not the ideal tool, so we’re still having talks with DLNR and OCCL to see what’s possible and not possible from a state perspective.”
Some homeowners said they would pay for sand pushing in early summer to protect their homes from seasonal erosion.
The Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands said in an e-mail that sand pushing has been successfully used as a seasonal measure to mitigate erosion. The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation gets an annual permit approved from OCCL to push excess sand from streams in front of lifeguard towers and public beach right of ways ahead of the winter surf.
OCCL said when the Paumalu stream needs to be cleared, the excess sand can be used to build a temporary berm in front of at-risk properties.
In other years, excess sand from the shoreline can be pushed back against the property line, however, there is currently a significant amount of torn sandbags fronting these properties, as well as debris from decks and pools that collapsed on the beach over a decade ago and which the landowners have not removed. Sand pushing cannot be used to cover up debris. Furthermore, Conservation District rules do not allow our office to issue permits to properties that have open enforcement cases against them.
There were 17 homes along the stretch of sand from Kammie’s to Rocky’s, once the second home is demolished there will be 15. OCCL said all but two of the homes have cases or violations.
Make smoke alarms work for you during Fire Prevention Week DLNR added that erosion in that area has been critical for over a decade writing:
“We attempted to buy property owners time by allowing them to temporarily place large sandbag burritos on state land while they worked on a long term solution. Ten years on and we have enforcement actions against fifteen of these property owners who have expanded their structures further onto the state beach without authorization, who have allowed debris from unauthorized sandbags litter the beach and nearshore waters, and who have refused to remove the structures at the end of the agreed upon time.”
“I want to caution everybody, the situation with this homeowner was kind of easy for the state and city to handle,” explained Rep. Quinlan. “These were vacation rentals, this was a very defiant homeowner, he purchased them three years ago, but how are we going to respond if the home falling into the ocean is occupied by a longtime kamaaina who bought that house 40-50 years ago and has the majority of their equity tied up in that one property?”
He said current homeowners have asked for emergency permits so they can install new burritos, he said there have also been talks about purchasing the land from homeowners.
“What value the state might pay is a question? Who would pay for the demolition of the homes in that case? If there’s outstanding violations would those be included as part of the purchase price? The state and city can use eminent domain for the public good to prevent these homes from falling into the ocean, but that does require us to pay out a tax-assessed value which can be very expensive,” Rep. Quinlan added.
“The question is how much is this beach worth to all of us? As taxpayers, as residents, as users of this beach, I’d like to come here with my son in the future but if we’re standing on a mountain of glass, metal, debris, iron, nail and screws, I wouldn’t let my son play on this beach,” he added.
Quinlan appropriated $1 million for a North Shore beach management plan to UH Sea Grant to watch the seasonal changes that happen and come up with solutions on how to possibly solve erosion issues. The results won’t be made available until December 2026.
Quinlan adds that he doesn’t see the harm in allowing homeowners who are willing to pay for sand pushing from doing so.
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“If you look at the sand nourishment taking place on Waikiki Beach that’s because we recognize the economic value of that beach, and interestingly enough, DBEDT just released a study that shows the economic value or output of the North Shore is $1.1 to $1.2 billion, so if those figures are good that suggests that there’s a good return on investment if we do things to save our beaches,” Quinlan added.
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