North Shore homes are in danger from erosion and homeowners say the state isn’t doing enough to help

In semi-retirement, Robert and Jo Jean Schieve are living on the edge, literally.

The Schieves spend each day watching anxiously as the ocean eats away at the backyard of their home near the famous Pipeline surf break on Oahu’s North Shore. They recently lost a beloved kamani nut tree, along with at least 12 feet of lawn, which fell down a 25-foot dropoff carved by waves to the shoreline below.

An estimated 20 homes along the shoreline from Rocky Point to Pipeline are in the same dire situation.

The hurricane season in the past few months sent swells that pounded their properties, the Schieves said, felling coconut palms, stairways, land­scaping, a deck and cracking at least one home’s foundation, rendering it uninhabitable.

It is the most severe episode of erosion the Schieves have seen in their 22 years living at the home, which they purchased in 1965. They fear the worst is yet to come.

“The winter wave action onslaught is still ahead of us,” said Robert Schieve. “Deterioration of the eroded cliffs will continue.”

While trying to deal with what they considered an emergency, the Schieves said they and their neighbors had to navigate the state’s obsolete permitting system to put erosion control measures in place.

Schieve said he had alerted the state Department of Land and Natural Resources about the erosion taking place on 10 beachfront properties in late July, requesting permission for a drape made of a heavyweight material to hang over the eroding cliff. That request was denied in a letter that arrived a month later.

‘Imminently threatened’

As the situation worsened, he called DLNR on Sept. 5, asking that someone see it in person. The next morning, Sam Lemmo, administrator of the DLNR Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, arrived, and walked along the properties with a tape measure.

He measured the distance from the back wall of the Schieve’s home — the backyard deck does not count — to the dropoff and said it was 22 feet, 2 feet over a 20-foot requirement to comply with the state’s definition of “imminently threatened” to warrant erosion control measures.

Under amended state rules adopted in 2011, “imminently threatened” is defined as “an inhabited dwelling, essential cultural or natural resource or other (non-movable) major structure or public facility that is in danger of destruction or severe damage due to natural hazards.”

For coastal erosion, “imminently threatened” means a distance of 20 feet or less from an actively eroding shoreline, or erosion that will threaten the structure in less than six months.

At 2 p.m. that same day, the Schieves said 2 more feet of their property had eroded, but they were unable to reach Lemmo or anyone at DLNR until Sept. 10, when DLNR granted an emergency authorization for six property owners along Ehukai beach to install heavyweight, geotextile blankets along the advancing dropoff along with sand-filled tubes known as “burritos” at the bottom.

The property owners foot the cost of installing the erosion- prevention measures themselves, and may hire licensed contractors, but need the proper permits, which include one from the city to work on the beach. The state permits are good for three years, and require property owners to remove the fallen trees and debris on shore.

“These decisions are not ministerial but always discretionary,” said Lemmo in an email. “We do not grant such authorizations to protect property per se but may do so in cases where a residence may be at risk of imminent loss. We monitor the situation there daily or through Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, or through our community contacts.”

Too little, too late

For many residents, though, the emergency authorization is too little too late.

Jo Jean Schieve believes some trees and structures could have been saved if the state had responded sooner.

“This has been going on for years, and you still have nobody to call,” she said. “There’s no number to call if you need any help.”

Robert Schieve said a homeowner a few doors down tried to install a sand burrito below his property, but was issued a cease-and-desist order and threatened with potential fine of $15,000 for not complying with permit requirements. Although that homeowner has lost about 10 linear feet of his yard, along with a few trees, his property does not meet the 20-foot requirement.

Another neighbor is unable to install erosion control measures because his home is set back much farther than the 20-foot requirement. This is concerning to the two homeowners flanking the one with no controls in place.

Even for the few homes that have permits, Schieve said, the erosion control measures are only good for the short term.

The urgency of the situation warrants a more unified and proactive approach, Schieve said, plus an update to the 20-foot requirement. If current setback laws for new homes are set at 40 feet, he said, then the state requirement for erosion control measures should be at 40 feet as well.

The city’s 40-foot setback requirement from a certified shoreline was established in 1992.

Unprecedented erosion level

At Ehukai Beach Park, meanwhile, the lifeguard stand had to be moved back approximately 20 feet due to the dropoff, according to Jim Howe, director of Honolulu’s Department of Emergency Services. It is the second time the stand has had to be moved at that beach park.

Some caution tape has also gone up before the dropoff, and the public is advised not to walk along that area of the shoreline.

“It’s a situation that there’s no beach, really, and you’re up against an unstable sand cliff,” he said. “The beach access is not available, and it’s too dangerous.”

While Oahu’s North Shore typically has a seasonal pattern of sand that washes away and then returns a few months later, some pockets have been suffering from chronic erosion, according to coastal geologist Dolan Eversole.

The erosion at Sunset Beach last year, and at Ehukai this year, are unprecedented, he said, and seem to be getting worse each year.

“What we’re seeing is an unprecedented level of erosion,” said Eversole. “It’s hard to say what’s causing this chronic, long-term erosion of the shoreline.”

Eversole thinks the erosion was already occurring before hurricane season, which may have contributed to it, but did not cause it. Continual, high-speed tradewinds from the northeast and their associated surf will continue to eat away at it. When the first winter swell hits, hopefully it will be from the west, he said, to push sand back to the eroding shorelines.

Lemmo said these areas on the North Shore are “relic sand dunes that were built up historically by waves and currents.”

“What is happening today is that sea level rise and other meteorological factors are causing the dunes to recede inland,” he said. “In effect, the ocean is trying to retrieve the sand that was stored there in the past and place it on the beach. Unfortunately, the dunes were flattened and developed so this erosion is now a threat to the residences, the shoreline and the sandy beach.”

Lemmo said the state would continue to monitor the situation and provide assistance through emergency authorizations where feasible.

Though they are still on edge, the Schieves have no plans to move. They hope to pass their home down to their daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchild.