State conservation officials are seeking to impose a $92,000 fine against a North Shore property owner for violating state laws by moving large amounts of sand in front of his two beachfront homes to shield them from coastal erosion and refusing to remove broken sandbags, rocks, concrete rubble and other debris that they say he stacked along the public beach.

The proposed fine, which is slated to be heard today by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, is among the more aggressive actions state officials have taken in recent years against property owners who have increasingly littered the coastline with illegal sandbags, heavy tarps, boulders and seawalls.

UPDATE: Hawaii Land Board delays action against North Shore homeowner for alleged shoreline violations

The barricades, meant to stave off large waves and rising seas, threaten the survival of the beaches while blocking public shoreline access and marring the beauty of the stretch of coastline known as the Seven Mile Miracle, famous for its abundance of prime surf breaks and stunning beaches.

Todd Dunphy, owner of the two properties at 59-181-E and 59-181-F Ke Nui Road at Rocky Point, has been unapologetic about employing an excavator earlier this month to push the sand in front of his homes and said the debris cited by the Department of Land and Natural Resources is now covered in sand.

He told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday, in a profanity-laced interview in which he threatened state officials, that he plans to use the excavator to push sand in front of homes all along the North Shore.

“I’m keeping (the excavator) because they are going to hire me to do the whole North Shore,” said Dunphy, referencing other beachfront property owners. “I know what I’m doing. I should be the one in charge of the North Shore.”

He said DLNR should pay him for the work he did moving the sand and should greenlight rock walls for him and his neighbors, a proposal state officials have repeatedly said is largely unfeasible due to the coastal geography of the North Shore, and unpalatable because it causes beach loss.

DLNR is tasked with protecting and conserving Hawaii’s natural resources.

Dunphy blasted state Rep. Amy Perruso (D, Wahiawa- Whitmore-Poamoho), who surfs in the area and told Hawaii News Now earlier this year that homeowners should cover the costs of retreating from the shoreline, warning that the homes are going to fail and it’s important to protect the public good.

In between profanities, Dunphy called her “lame” and said, “Hopefully, she will never be surfing out here that much longer.”

Perruso, in response, said, “It is not about him and it is not about me. It’s about the larger public-trust issue. It is about being real about how we move forward.”

The lawmaker said she and friends had attempted to pull some of the heavy sandbags that had broken loose from properties out of the water, which was dangerous.

“We should not have been doing that, and people like him should not have been putting us in that position because it damages the ocean,” said Perruso.

Dunphy also threatened Trevor Fitzpatrick, a staff planner with DLNR’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, who approached him earlier this month about the illegal sand pushing.

“I told Trevor Fitzpatrick, ‘You are not welcome down here on the beach,’” said Dunphy. “‘Don’t come down here unless you have a police escort.’”

Earlier news stories about Dunphy’s actions elicited hundreds of comments on social media, with some supporting his efforts to save his properties, though an overwhelming number of commenters expressed anger at what he had done and said beachfront property owners should know the risks when buying coastal properties.

Dunphy took issue with those critics as well. “All the haters are like, ‘Todd Dunphy did this. He changed the Rocky Point; doesn’t even break the same anymore.’ You guys are a bunch of idiots, man,” he said.

History of infractions

Debris meant to control coastal erosion has littered the public beach in front of Dunphy’s properties since at least 2014, according to OCCL’s submittal to the Land Board, which says Dunphy also began placing sandbags in front of his home in February without permission.

OCCL says Dunphy has participated in other sand pushes in the area that were authorized, but didn’t comply with environmental requirements.

On April 7, OCCL said it received multiple anonymous tips that Dunphy was preparing to install sandbags on the public beach in front of his properties and bring in an excavator. State officials say they were sent photographs of men digging a trench and installing the sandbags.

Between April 8 and 10, OCCL said, anonymous sources then sent in videos and photos of an excavator on the beach working during the night and early morning hours pushing sand to bury the sandbags and create a steep embankment. On April 11, officials from OCCL and the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement conducted a site visit and found the excavator on the beach.

Dunphy told the Star- Advertiser he bought the excavator and got a friend to do the work.

“I had one of my pirate boys do it,” he said. “I had to buy the thing because no one with an excavator or license to operate one will take a chance of doing any work on the beach without a permit because of the threat of impounding the thing and losing their license.”

OCCL is seeking to fine Dunphy $15,000 for the illegal sand push and an additional $77,000 for not removing the other material in front of his home, which he was warned about in a Feb. 4 letter, for a total fine of $92,000.

Dunphy must also remove the material and restore the shoreline area to “a more natural state,” according to OCCL’s recommendations, or be fined an additional $16,000 a day.

“The beaches of Hawai‘i are held in trust by the state for the benefit of present and future generations. … There should be consequences when an individual unilaterally and willfully acts in such a way that endangers a public trust resource,” OCCL wrote in its submittal to the Land Board.

DLNR declined to comment on the proposed fines ahead of today’s Land Board meeting. It’s up to the seven- member board, which is chaired by Suzanne Case, to make a final determination about any fines.

Dunphy said he plans to fight the proposed fines and has no plans to return the sand. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said.