Plans to replace an eight-story, 58-year-old oceanfront hotel at Waikiki’s Kuhio Beach with a 26-story hotel and condominium tower was approved via variances by a city department in December. Four environmental groups are now contesting the approval before the Zoning Board of Appeals, which must take a hard look at a project that would violate rules by infringing on the 100-foot shoreline height setback. The project’s extenuating circumstances make it a tough call — but at the end of the day, the integrity of sensible land-use policy should be upheld. This project simply asks for too much, something the city and the City Council should have discouraged well before this point.

Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts wants to replace the low-rise Diamond Head Tower next to the historic Moana Surfrider Hotel with one that, at 300 feet, is three times taller in order to accommodate 85 hotel rooms and 40 condo units in premium oceanfront property. The $700 million project also includes a new 33-story tower at the nearby Princess Kaiulani Hotel mauka of Kalakaua Avenue and renovation of the 29-story Ainahau Tower; these would be welcome improvements that would provide the owner with robust revenue enhancers.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie last week added his star power to the situation, touting in a news conference the public-private partnership that has Kyo-ya contributing $500,000 to a two-month, $2.5 million state sand project to widen the beach by nearly 40 feet. Kyo-ya had actually pledged the money last summer, when it was in the throes of the city’s approval process for its proposed renovation — but, at last week’s media op, said the sand-replenishment donation was unrelated to its controversial oceanfront tower.

It’s increasingly difficult to divorce motivations and politics from this zoning decision. But within the realm of land-use policy, the public goal is to manage shoreline use in a fair fashion. The danger is that the exception starts becoming the rule, especially in the ever-competitive hotel-rooms market.

Waikiki’s beach is far from pristine, having been created by man 80 years ago in a way that has made it world famous. In fact, it was the haphazard build-up of the area in the late 1960s and early ’70s that prompted creation of the Waikiki Special District, with its current development limits on heights, densities and setbacks.

The state agreed in 1965 to widen its shoreline by 180 feet, but that was unrealistic. The concern has increased as sand continues to erode and ocean levels are expected to rise. Kyo-ya recognized the need for adapting to the changing environment at its oceanfront site. Unfortunately, it is saddled with the narrowest lot along Waikiki’s beach, so plans to elevate that hotel site to protect it against any global sea-level rise caused by melting poles.

The City Council had unanimously approved Kyo-ya’s project and the city Department of Planning and Permitting provided the zoning variance. The environmental groups challenging the variance before the Zoning Board rightly oppose the tall, dense tower as being inappropriate and too close to the shoreline.

The appeal’s contested case hearing was to have begun this past Thursdaybut now could be delayed indefinitely. Two members of the five-member Zoning Board have recused themselves, having done work for Kyo-ya or its law firm. A third member has acknowledged having done work for Kyo-ya in the past and the question of whether he should be forced to step aside is before the city Ethics Commission, which would deny the board of a quorum. Two members of the zoning appeals board, including one of the recused in the Kyo-ya case, are holdovers whose terms have expired, while the other three are scheduled to complete their terms at the end of June. Mayor Peter Carlisle has yet to name replacements.

We urge opposing sides to use this zoning appeal delay to rework a compromise. The state’s failure to widen the beach as promised 46 years ago is a factor that might give Kyo-ya grounds to rebuild beyond its existing structure — but on a more reasonable scale, not 26 stories. Land-use policies created to preserve the allure of Waikiki via special district safeguards should carry weight. Whatever the outcome, this situation should not open the floodgates for other Waikiki hotels to be rebuilt closer to the waves.