Land Board again rejects plan to modify Cromwell’s sea wall

A state board Friday voted — for a second time — to reject a plan to dismantle the popular Cromwell’s swimming cove on Oahu.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources held a second hearing Friday due to one member’s confusion during the first one on April 27, which resulted in a 4-2 vote to deny a permit for the owner of the historic Doris Duke estate to remove a breakwater it deems a safety hazard and to fill part of the basin with boulders.

On Friday, however, the resulting vote was once again 4-2 to deny the permit following lengthy discussion and testimony.

BLNR board member Stanley Roehrig, who made the motion to deny the application, proposed the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, owner of the property, meet with community stakeholders and come up with another solution because he felt the proposed plan would make the area more dangerous, particularly the placement of imported boulders along the sea wall.

Speaking before the board, Konrad Ng, executive director of the Doris Duke Foundation, said safety was the primary motivation for the plan and that the foundation was acting out of conscience.

Despite putting up a fence, posting signs and hiring security guards, the foundation, which offers guided tours of Shangri La, a museum of Islamic art and culture, has not been able to stop thrill-seekers from jumping off the wall and breakwater. Some are even jumping off the fence.

A growing number are doing so as social media popularizes the area.

“We decided to undertake the work that we’ve done at our own cost,” said Ng. “We are here because we feel this is the best option to make this area that has led to serious injuries safer, that allows public access.”

Board chairwoman Suzanne Case voted to support the plan, saying it was a private property and that the landowner was trying to be responsible in preventing accidents.

But community members showed up Friday to defend what they consider a valuable public recreation site as well as a sentimental and historic place.

Corinne Ching said the wall was a part of her history, which she wanted to share with future generations, including her daughter, who also testified to keep Cromwell’s the way it is.

“These beautiful, historic walls beckon one to a special time in Hawaii’s history and tell of those values, those personalities and those stories,” she said. “Each and every time you chip away at structures like these, we lose that history.”

Doris Duke herself was a historic preservationist, she said, and would have wanted to keep the wall as a “precious feature of her estate.”

Following Friday’s vote, the counsel for the Doris Duke Foundation requested a contested case hearing.

“Shangri La respectfully disagrees with the decision by the BLNR to deny a project that supports public safety and public access at the shoreline,” the foundation said in an issued statement. “At the recommendation of the DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources), Shangri La conducted extensive studies, consulted with numerous experts and sought community input to address safety concerns at Cromwell’s. The resulting project was environmentally sound and would have allowed for the continuation of public recreational activities, including swimming, snorkeling and fishing while reducing hazards that have resulted in three cases of paraplegia.”

The foundation said it would continue its efforts to give Cromwell’s back to the state of Hawaii, its rightful owner.

Leigh-Wai Doo, a Honolulu resident and former city councilman, was pleased with Friday’s outcome.

“A jewel for our state of Hawaii has been saved,” said Doo, “and it opens the opportunity to educate our youth not to be stupid around water. Don’t be kolohe, and be safe, which means no jumping.”

An online petition, “Don’t Let Them Demolish Doris Duke (Cromwell’s) Harbor,” calling the basin “a historic Diamond Head landmark where we have all shared many great memories,” had more than 1,300 signatures by Friday evening.

Fred Fong, who swims regularly at Cromwell’s, was pleased with the decision and felt that the board listened to the public. Fong said several neighborhood boards, including Diamond Head/Kapahulu and Kahala, had voted to oppose dismantling the breakwater.

“Common sense prevailed,” he said.