HCR14 HD2

WHEREAS, a portion of the existing seawall seaward of the property identified as Tax Map Key: (2) 3-8-014:022, Maalaea Beach Lots, Waikapu, Wailuku, Maui (subject property), was placed on state submerged lands; and

WHEREAS, the property identified as Tax Map Key: (2) 3-8-014:022 contained a sandy beach and no seawall or other shoreline protection structures when it was originally purchased by Wendell and Myrtle Crockett in the 1940s; and

WHEREAS, the Territory of Hawaii built the Maalaea Small Boat Harbor abutting the western corner of the makai boundary of the subject property in 1952 and added improvements, including break walls, to the harbor facility in 1955 and 1959; and

WHEREAS, in the early 1950s, around the same time that the Territory of Hawaii was building the Maalaea Small Boat Harbor and its associated improvements, a seawall was installed seaward of the entire makai boundary of the subject property and continuing across the makai boundaries of neighboring properties to the east, and appears to be a non-conforming structure as it was built before October 1, 1964; and

WHEREAS, around August 2015, the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands worked with the current property owners, the Association of Apartment Owners of Milowai-Maalaea, to resolve the existing seawall encroachment; and

WHEREAS, the age and origin of the seawall were confirmed through an environmental assessment conducted as part of the 2015 land disposition process; and

WHEREAS, the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands indicated it had no objections to a long-term easement to resolve the encroachment; and

WHEREAS, at its meeting of October 9, 2015, under agenda item D-6, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved a grant of a fifty-five year term, non-exclusive easement to resolve the seawall encroachment, and authorized the non-exclusive easement to run with the land and inure to the benefit of the abutting real property; and

WHEREAS, at its meeting of January 8, 2021, under agenda item D-5, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved an amendment to the Board of Land and Natural Resources' action of October 9, 2015, item D-6, to shorten the term of the non-exclusive easement from fifty-five to twenty-five years, or in the event the applicant is unsuccessful in acquiring the fee or obtaining an extension of the ground lease of the abutting apartment property, to end on December 31, 2038, concurrent with the expiration of the ground lease for the abutting apartment property; and

WHEREAS, the total encroachment area was determined to be 1,737 square feet, as reviewed and approved by the Department of Accounting and General Services' Survey Division; and

WHEREAS, on January 25, 2021, the Association of Apartment Owners of Milowai-Maalaea executed a removal bond agreement with Great American Insurance Company in which the Association guaranteed the State of Hawaii the sum of $432,000 to insure against the cost of removing the encroachment in the event that the Legislature and the Governor do not approve the issuance of the non-exclusive easement approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Land and Natural Resources executed Revocable Permit No. S-7932 on February 16, 2021, granting the Association of Apartment Owners of Milowai-Maalaea the right to enter and occupy the subject parcel of state submerged land, subject to terms including the payment of $255 monthly rental amount; and

WHEREAS, the grantee has paid the State the fair market value of the non-exclusive easement as consideration of the use of state submerged lands, determined to be $63,300 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 twenty-five years, covering a portion of state submerged lands seaward of the property identified as Tax Map Key: (2) 3-8-014: 022, Maalaea Beach Lots, Waikapu, Wailuku, Maui, for the existing seawall, 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 the Board of Land and Natural Resources is requested to require the easement to provide for either public access to the shoreline from the grass next to the seawall or the installation of a railing along the top of the seawall to allow the public lateral access to the shoreline; 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.	14
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII