It’s very unfortunate, though not very surprising, that the city has caved on sending a strong and powerful message against seawalls — those ocean structures that might protect one landowner’s private property but do outsized erosion damage to public beaches.

The Department of Planning and Permitting on Monday approved a major exemption from land-use policy, enabling a bigger seawall to be erected fronting a Waimanalo compound being built by Marty Nesbitt, a close friend of former President Barack Obama. DPP could’ve, should’ve, taken an important stand against seawall waivers with this prominent case; instead, it crumbled.