Request for limits at surf areas is pulled

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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Timothy MacMaster, left, of Safe Surf Hawaii addressed a Department of Land and Natural Resources meeting held Wednesday to discuss a proposed project to regulate the use of stand-up paddleboards at south shore surf spots. DLNR Director William Aila stood at right.

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A proposal for a one-year restriction on stand-up paddleboards at select spots along Oahu’s south shore has been withdrawn, but state officials could still consider changes.

In response to comments posted on his Safe Surf Hawaii website, Timothy MacMaster withdrew his request to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for a pilot project that would have barred paddle-propelled watercraft including surf kayaks and stand-up paddleboards from the surf zones known as Tennis Courts, Concessions and Kewalos from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

But at a packed meeting Wednesday night at Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki, MacMaster asked stand-up paddlers "to consider the feelings of the surfers out there."

"Just because you can get more than your share of the waves doesn’t mean you should," he said.

DLNR Director William Aila moderated the meeting and previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he had received complaints about stand-up paddleboards, or SUPs, only from MacMaster.

Any rule changes regarding stand-up paddling, Aila said, would have to have "nearly unanimous" support by the people who use surf and stand-up paddling spots.

To a sometimes raucous crowd, Aila said to cheers, "The department doesn’t have a set of rules in front of it that it’s considering."

It’s unclear what will come from the comments from nearly two dozen speakers who followed Aila and MacMaster, said DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward.

"There is no formal process of what will happen after we have listened to members of the public," Ward said. "The department’s not taking sides either way."

Amanda Lowther, a mother of surfers, said SUPs are already "driving out the kids, driving out the regular surfers. … Surfing should be for everybody, not just for the rich" who can afford SUPs.

But surfer Bruce Lum said new rules are unnecessary and would be unenforceable.

"We should let government know that regulating surf zones in Hawaii … is not practical (and) it’s not feasible," Lum said. "This is manini, and this is self-regulated."