Protect favorite local beaches

The increasing pressure on Oahu’s shoreline is especially apparent in urban areas, where the forces of nature and humankind combine to erode that most Hawaiian of experiences: enjoying a day at the beach. Separate initiatives aim to preserve or enhance waterfront sites stretching along the South Shore, from Waikiki Beach to Ala Wai Harbor to Ala Moana Beach Park to Kewalo Basin and Kakaako Waterfront Park.

While each of these locations is unique and requires solutions tailored to distinct needs, resources and challenges, it is also important that state and county policymakers keep the whole South Shore in mind as individual improvement plans progress — lest development spill into areas better off left in a more natural state.

The overall loss of green space and of free and easy public beach and shoreline access is not so obvious when projects are considered solely on a case-by-case basis — what’s a single restaurant here, or a wedding chapel there? Envisioned in totality, though, the risks of rapid urban gentrification become impossible to ignore. Keeping open space open protects the vitality of the whole region, and is particularly important for the well-being of local residents crammed into urban, inland housing who flock to the South Shore to sustain their minds, bodies and souls.

Ensuring that coastal improvement projects don’t block public access for swimming, surfing, potlucking and other pastimes beloved by local folks must be a high priority for the elected and appointed officials who hold sway over the development process. It’s a priority they must openly reiterate, illustrating that they not only recognize, but embrace, laws mandating public access.

Sometimes the best way to protect favorite local spots is to pour money into tourist sites elsewhere, which is the case regarding an expensive plan to combat chronic erosion at Waikiki Beach. Climate change, past construction too close to shore and other factors contributing to inexorable shoreline decline throughout the islands mean that most sand replenishment efforts are short term at best. Not all Hawaii beaches can be saved. Waikiki Beach must be among the highest priorities. The effort will require funding from both public and private sources over at least the next 10 years. Even at a total cost estimated as high as $20 million, this is money that must be spent.

Waikiki is the linchpin of Hawaii’s tourist economy. Continuing to funnel tourist traffic there relieves some of the pressure on other beach spots favored by local residents. With industry surveys detecting lower satisfaction rates among recent Hawaii vacationers, redoubling efforts to shore up Waikiki Beach make economic sense, even at the escalating price tag. Waikiki visitors expect to find the attractive sandy beach of the tourist brochures. When they see exposed concrete and sandbags instead, as happens annually at certain erosion "hotspots," they are understandably disappointed, and more likely to venture out of the tourist district to find the sand they seek.

Ala Moana Beach Park is one obvious spillover spot, being close to Waikiki. While this beach park has always welcomed its fair share of tourists, it truly is the people’s park, a haven for Oahu urbanites who cherish the sand, surf and sunshine, and the camaraderie they share with family and friends. Potlucks and barbecues last all day for extended families who don’t have to worry about paying for parking or running up an expensive restaurant bill.

It’s obvious from feedback the city has received in its Ala Moana master-planning initiative that everyday residents are wary that commercial development will be disguised as park "improvements." Hundreds turned out for the first public meeting, some concerned that with all the luxury residential buildings rising in Kakaako, the pressure is on not to simply spruce up the park, but to transform it into a playground for the wealthy denizens who will consider Magic Island their front yard. (Read about the planning process, and the community input, at ouralamoanapark.com).

The city must heed these legitimate concerns, just as all Oahu policymakers must continually strive to see the big picture on the South Shore.

Doing so doesn’t require an overhaul of the planning process, simply a broader point of view.