An interim settlement has been reached in a lawsuit brought to compel Dominis G. “Andy” and Jean Anderson, the city and the state to cure sewage and parking issues following the expansion of the Anderson-owned Hale‘iwa Beach House restaurant next door to Haleiwa Beach Park.

“I’m happy with it,” said plaintiffs’ lawyer Bill Saunders of the outcome, noting that his clients, Abigail W. Kawananakoa, the Save Hale‘iwa Beach Park Coalition and Cora Sanchez, are getting the environmental oversight and enforcement they sought, by way of a June 18 interim settlement and case dismissal agreement, signed by all parties, which says the defendants will perform actions plaintiffs sought and does not bar future legal recourse on the same issues.

Saunders, with Honolulu law firm Bickerton Law Group, said Kawananakoa was a plaintiff out of concern for the protection of the environment, water quality and cultural resources on Oahu’s North Shore, where she is a longtime landowner. And coalition members are users of the beach park and nearby coastal resources, while North Shore resident Cora Sanchez was a co-plaintiff with the coalition in a 2012 lawsuit contending the city failed to follow the law in its plan to sell the 3.4 acres of park land adjacent to the restaurant parcel.

Anderson, a longtime Hawaii developer and former state legislator who acquired the restaurant parcel with his wife in 2010, had expressed interest in buying the land for a hotel project, but the city dropped the sale idea and the lawsuit was dismissed in 2013.

The newly dismissed complaint, which was filed in Circuit Court in September 2016, stated that “without any permits or permission to do so,” the Andersons spread gravel and asphalt onto a portion of the city’s adjacent park land and began using it for overflow restaurant parking, and demanded the city stop the practice.

In addition, the plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief from the various defendants involved in the construction and operation of Hale‘iwa Beach House that was taking place without the required permits and in such a manner as to cause contaminated sewage effluent to seep from the ground and pollute adjacent property, including the Loko Ea streambed, which flows directly into a popular ocean recreation area.

The complaint stated that in or about 2013, the Andersons began an extensive expansion and remodeling project on the Beach House parcel, which lies within a Coastal Zone Management Act special management area, installing new septic tanks after having received a wastewater variance from the state Department of Health allowing for up to 114 restaurant patrons at a time.

The Andersons were subsequently cited by the DOH for expanding the restaurant’s seating capacity to 388 from 114 without enlarging its wastewater system, and state officials ordered the place closed after confirming that sewage was spilling into property near the fishpond.

The restaurant reopened June 7, 2016, after the owners agreed to serve fewer patrons, but a DOH inspection a week later discovered that five chairs had been relocated from the bar to the dining area, increasing restaurant seating capacity and incurring a fine of $5,000.

The interim settlement agreement says the city will place, or require the owners of Hale‘iwa Beach House to place, a fence or other barrier to prevent patrons and employees from parking on the adjoining city land, and that the owners will comply with city orders.

Regarding the sewage issue, the agreement says the state will regularly inspect the restaurant’s wastewater system operations and effluent testing to ensure they meet regulations, and will follow up on any complaints and take appropriate enforcement action if wastewater “appears to be percolating up from the drain-field and/or entering adjoining property, including Loko Ea Stream and Fishpond.”

Ryan Akamine from the state Department of the Attorney General, Brad Saito from the city Department of the Corporation Counsel, and David Minkin, attorney for the Andersons, did not respond to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s requests for comment Friday.

Hale‘iwa Beach House closed March 18 due to COVID-19 but reopened June 5 and is serving lunch and dinner, according to its website.