HCR13 HD1

WHEREAS, portions of the existing riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin seaward of the property identified as Tax Map Key: (1) 5-3-008:012, Hauula, Koolauloa, Oahu (subject property), were placed on state submerged lands; and

WHEREAS, the riprap revetment and rock groin were first placed along several adjacent properties, known as the Kaluanui Beach Lots, in 1947; and

WHEREAS, in October 1961, the riprap revetment wall and rock groins were repaired and improved by a contractor engaged by Bishop Estate, the then-owner of the Kaluanui Beach Lots; and

WHEREAS, in 1983 and 1984, during the process of shoreline certification, it was discovered that the riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin were encroachments on state submerged land and there was an attempt to resolve the encroachments with the then-owner of the abutting residential parcel; however, there is no record of any issuance of a land disposition or removal of the encroachments; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, Steven Ernest MacBride and Valerie Jean MacBride purchased the residential subject property, which abuts the portion of state submerged land that contains the encroaching riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin; and

WHEREAS, around November 2018, title to the residential subject property, which abuts the encroaching riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin, was conveyed to Steven Ernest MacBride and Valerie Jean MacBride, as Trustees under that certain unrecorded Steven and Valerie MacBride Revocable Trust dated October 30, 2018; and

WHEREAS, the riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin were constructed seaward of the private property record boundary without prior authorization, and a portion of the riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin previously located on private property is now seaward of the current shoreline on state submerged lands; and

WHEREAS, around April 2022, the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands worked with Steven Ernest MacBride and Valerie Jean MacBride, as Trustees under that certain unrecorded Steven and Valerie MacBride Revocable Trust dated October 30, 2018, to resolve the encroachments; and

WHEREAS, the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands indicated that it supported a non-exclusive easement to resolve the encroachments; and

WHEREAS, at its meeting of August 26, 2022, under agenda item D-5, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved a grant of a 25-year non-exclusive easement to resolve the riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin encroachments, and such non-exclusive easement shall run with the land and shall inure to the benefit of the abutting real property; and

WHEREAS, the total encroachment area was determined to be 2,297 square feet, more or less, as reviewed and approved by the Department of Accounting and General Services' Survey Division; and

WHEREAS, on October 14, 2022, Steven Ernest MacBride and Valerie Jean MacBride, as Trustees under that certain unrecorded Steven and Valerie MacBride Revocable Trust dated October 30, 2018, executed a removal bond in the amount of $79,860 with SureTec Insurance Company as surety and the State of Hawaii as obligee, to insure the State against the cost of removing the encroachments in the event that the Legislature and the Governor do not approve the issuance of the easement approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Land and Natural Resources executed Revocable Permit No. S-7945 on January 17, 2023, granting Steven Ernest MacBride and Valerie Jean MacBride the right to enter and occupy the subject parcel of state submerged land, subject to terms including the payment of $306 monthly rental amount; and

WHEREAS, the grantee shall pay the State the fair market value of the non-exclusive easement as consideration of the use of public lands, to be determined by an independent appraisal; and

WHEREAS, in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a technical report that found that sea level rise will create a profound shift in coastal flooding over the next thirty years by causing tide and storm surge heights to increase and reach further inland; and

WHEREAS, by 2050, moderate and typically damaging coastal flooding is expected to occur on average more than ten times as often as it does today and can be intensified by local factors; and

WHEREAS, in Hawaii, sea-level rise and coastal erosion are occurring at an accelerated rate, with moderate estimates projecting the sea level to increase by six to eight inches by mid-century; and

WHEREAS, the practice of issuing easements to private landowners for state submerged lands on a case-by-case basis is not prudent as a long-term strategy when considered in relation to the public trust doctrine and in the context of planning for landscape-scale adaptation and retreat; and

WHEREAS, section 171-53, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires the prior approval of the Governor and prior authorization of the Legislature by concurrent resolution to lease state submerged lands; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, the Senate concurring, that the Board of Land and Natural Resources is hereby authorized to issue a non-exclusive easement, with a term not to exceed fifteen years, covering a portion of state submerged lands seaward of the subject property, Hauula, Koolauloa, Oahu, for the existing riprap revetment, ramp, and rock groin, and for use, repair, and maintenance of the existing improvements constructed thereon pursuant to section 171-53, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and Governor.

Report Title:

BLNR; Term, Non-Exclusive Easement; Lease State Submerged Lands

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	13
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII