On May 8, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources extended, for the third time, a Conservation District Use Permit for a controversial shoreline erosion control project fronting the Hololani Resort Condominiums in West Maui.
Under the original permit issued in 2014, construction had to start within one year and be completed within three years. The project — a 370-foot- long rock revetment — was intended to protect Hololani’s two eight-story towers that are at risk of becoming uninhabitable due to beach erosion that has been exacerbated by storms, a seawall on a neighboring property, and sea level rise.
The board twice extended the permit, in 2016 and 2018, to accommodate delays due to design changes requested by the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) and the Maui Planning Department, as well as a delay in the board’s approval of an easement for the portion of the structure that would encroach onto the public beach.
That easement, approved by the Land Board in January 2018, also required consent from the Legislature, but the Senate Concurrent Resolution that would have achieved this never got a hearing in the House.
In March 2018, community groups Na Papa‘i o Wawae ‘Ula‘ula and West Maui Preservation Association, and Felimon Sadang, whose property lies along the same eroding Kahana Bay shoreline, requested a contested case hearing on the Land Board’s second permit extension. It later sued the board in Circuit Court after their request was denied.
To get around the lack of an easement, Hololani decided in 2019 to keep the revetment off the beach and on its own property. With consent from the county Planning Department, the condo installed a sheet pile bulkhead. Before Hololani could do anything more, the community groups sued it, the county Planning Department, and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources over the lack of a county Special Management Area (SMA) permit and the condo’s failure to comply with the state’s environmental review law.
The court found that the state did nothing wrong, but that the county and Hololani should have done an environmental assessment for the revetment. Before issuing a final judgment, the court ordered the parties into mediation. Early last year, the county, Hololani, and the groups reached a settlement, under which Hololani would delay constructing the revetment for five years to allow for the environmental review and permitting for a regional beach nourishment project that was in the works. Under the SMA permit the county has issued for the revetment, it must be removed once the beach restoration at Kahana Bay is complete. In exchange for the five-year delay, the community groups agreed not to oppose Hololani’s attempts to extend its CDUP.
At the Land Board’s May 8 meeting, OCCL administrator Sam Lemmo recommended extending the construction and completion deadlines for the revetment to 2025 and 2026, respectively. Lemmo admitted that it is unusual for his division to keep extending a permit for ten years. “It’s sort of unprecedented,” he said. But in reviewing the case, he continued, “I don’t see Hololani being at fault here for not being able to initiate construction. … If we saw some culpability on the part of the applicant, we would say, ‘Enough’s enough. Come back when you’re ready.’”
Land Board member Sam Gon agreed with Lemmo’s assessment. Member Jimmy Gomes, the Maui representative on the board, did not.
“I think we’ve given them enough time. … They can come back to the board,” Gomes said.
Attorney Pamela Bunn, representing Hololani, argued that the condo needs to protect its foundation. “There is no guarantee beach nourishment will go through,” she said.
Indeed, the source of funding for the multi-million-dollar project, which would protect Hololani, Sandang’s property and eight other condominiums along the bay, is still unclear. The establishment of a county community facilities district was recently proposed to allow for the issuance of a bond that would be paid off by unit owners over the next 20 years. The County Council has yet to approve the idea.
In the meantime, the clock is ticking on the five-year stay on the revetment construction.
“The only thing I believe will change in five years, if there is no beach nourishment project, is the need for [the revetment] will only become more urgent,” Bunn told the board.
Land Board member Chris Yuen moved to approve the CDUP extension, given the settlement conditions. “The beach nourishment project may or may not happen. I’m OK with the status quo,” he said. Gon seconded his motion, which was approved.
Gomes and member Kaiwi Yoon voted in opposition.
—Teresa Dawson
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