Create way to access ‘turtle beach’

Many North Shore residents warned that barricading a parking lot across from popular Laniakea Beach was no solution to the traffic congestion and safety hazards caused by the tourists and others who flock there to see green sea turtles sunning themselves on the rural Oahu shoreline.

They predicted that vehicles would park even more haphazardly up and down Kamehameha Highway, on the shoulder or in private driveways.

Now, nearly a year after the state Department of Transportation put up the barriers, there is mounting evidence that these critics were correct.

The issue has come to a head in the form of an unpermitted fence built by oceanfront landowners fed up with the crowds who clog their private road on a daily basis, an unintended but predictable consequence of preventing vehicles from using the 3-acre parcel up the road.

Many competing interests are wrapped up in this dispute, which is emblematic of problems cropping up throughout the island as formerly "local spots" accessed from rural or residential areas become known to millions of tourists through Internet marketing, personal social media and other means.

Laniakea, Maunawili Trail and Cromwell’s Beach are just a few of the places on Oahu that are hosting more people than the neighbors care to see.

Government officials and private-property owners must work together to forge lasting, workable solutions.

A top priority to keep in mind when addressing these problems: Public access to beaches and the ocean beyond is a long-held and cherished right in Hawaii.

Oceanfront homeowners must be constantly reminded of this fact, especially those from outside Hawaii, where private beaches are common. The construction of fences and other oceanfront barriers, one property at a time, ultimately erode public access.

The Pohaku Loa Way landowner who organized construction of the 70-foot fence blocking a long-used, unofficial beach access point is unrepentant; he vows to construct a more permanent rock wall now that the wooden structure has been vandalized.

The city was correct to cite the owners for failing to obtain a building permit and a special management area permit; the landowners have until Oct. 16 to obtain the permits or tear down the fence, or face fines.

There’s also a question about whether the fence is in the 40-foot shoreline setback; if it is, a minor setback variance is required. All 10 Pokahu Loa Way homeowners are listed on the violation notice, even though only eight contributed money to build the fence, which went up two weeks ago.

The city’s director of the Department of Planning and Permitting has the discretion to schedule a public hearing before any permits are issued, and he should do so in this case, which is of broad public interest. The possibility that the fence was erected on what should be considered public land, within the highest wash of the waves, is especially troubling.

Still, we also recognize that property owners have rights, and that those in areas heavily used by tourists deserve relief from a continual onslaught of trespassers. Fencing off Laniakea is not the answer, but other steps could provide short- and long-term relief:

» Station more police to enforce illegal stopping and parking, especially to deter commercial vehicles that idle after dropping off groups of tourists who haphazardly cross the highway and private property.

» Remove a few concrete barriers at each end of the mauka parcel that is now barricaded, creating a more orderly entry and exit flow that would mimic the shape of the private road being used on the makai side. Parking there is preferable to the mish-mash that has proliferated since the barriers across Laniakea went up. In conjunction, installation of a traffic light to control the flow of pedestrians crossing the highway should be considered.

» Move more swiftly to realign the highway to allow parking on the makai side. The state DOT should make achieving this long-term and broadly supported solution a higher priority.

The DOT barriers were never meant as a long-term fix. Nearly 10 months in, it seems they have reached their limits. Punting the vehicle and pedestrian overflow to private-property owners is unfair and risks eroding fundamental support for one of Hawaii’s greatest assets: free public access to island beaches.

It’s time to accept that the turtles are not going away, and neither are the tourists. Laniakea needs a real solution, not another barrier.