SR27.DOC

WHEREAS, there would be little or no beach east of Fort DeRussy if public funds had not been spent to construct groins and place sand on Waikiki Beach; and

WHEREAS, the old Royal Hawaiian Groin, makai of the western end of the Royal Hawaiian resort, has captured and retains the existing beach makai of the Royal Hawaiian, Outrigger, and Moana Surfrider resorts; and

WHEREAS, the SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement is a 1965 contract between the State and shoreline property owners that limits the options for replacement of the Royal Hawaiian Groin, establishes private ownership subject to public easement over most of the beach created by the groin, and prohibits commercial activities over most of the beach created by the groin; and

WHEREAS, Item 9 of the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement explicitly prohibits the State from conducting or permitting any commercial activity of any kind on the public beach in the SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector of Waikiki Beach, including the public easement, and prohibits the owners of the private beach from conducting or permitting any commercial activity of any kind within the area of the public easement; and

WHEREAS, businesses that operate from Royal Hawaiian, Outrigger, and Moana Surfrider resort property have been pre-setting and storing commercial beach chairs and umbrellas, at times when this equipment is not rented, on the private beach subject to public easement makai of the three resorts; and

WHEREAS, under section 200-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and chapter 255 of title 13, Hawaii Administrative Rules, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has the authority to impose daily administrative fines on persons who pre-set on the private beach subject to public easement in violation of rules adopted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources could request the Attorney General to seek other remedies in court against the owners of the private beach subject to public easement; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources organized an ad hoc working group to discuss commercial activity on the beach makai of the Royal Hawaiian, Outrigger, and Moana Surfrider resorts, and the working group included staff from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Department of the Attorney General; hotel managers and vendors in the areas of the SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector, Outrigger Reef, and Hale Koa hotels, and their vendors; Bob Finley of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board; and Rick Egged, Executive Director of the Waikiki Improvement Association; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources' report to the Legislature dated October 2015 on User Conflicts on Public Recreational Lands states that the Executive Director of the Waikiki Improvement Association agreed to lead the hotel group in submitting a pre-setting proposal to the Department of Land and Natural Resources; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources' working group has never included any person who has complained about commercial activity on the private beach subject to public easement; and

WHEREAS, the hotels that own the private beach subject to public easement may have a financial incentive to negotiate a supplemental agreement that weakens the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; and

WHEREAS, no person who complained about commercial activity on the private beach subject to public easement has been consulted concerning the provisions of the proposed supplemental agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has never explained why a supplemental agreement is necessary for enforcement of the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has not set any deadline to enforce the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; and

WHEREAS, in January 2016, the Department of Land and Natural Resources published a draft environmental assessment that proposes public expenditures to improve or replace the Royal Hawaiian Groin; and

WHEREAS, because the Department of Land and Natural Resources hoped to avoid public discussion of the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement, the Draft Environmental Assessment for Royal Hawaiian Groin Improvement Project excluded all mention of the Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Land and Natural Resources clearly needs legislative guidance and oversight concerning enforcement of the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, that this body urges the Department of Land and Natural Resources to immediately enforce the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body urges the Attorney General to encourage and provide any assistance necessary for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to enforce the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body requests the Attorney General to provide a memorandum, for public disclosure, to explain the legal implications, possible benefits, and possible drawbacks of the hotel group's pre-setting proposal mentioned in the Department of Land and Natural Resources' October 2015 report to the Legislature on User Conflicts on Public Recreational Lands; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body requests the Department of Land and Natural Resources to prepare an environmental assessment under chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes, before the Board of Land and Natural Resources considers any specific proposal for a new agreement that supplements or supersedes the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body requests the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Attorney General to jointly report to the Legislature, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017, concerning the status and effectiveness of state actions to enforce the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement; and

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

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Urging the Department of Land and Natural Resources to immediately enforce the prohibition on commercial activity under the 1965 SurfRider-Royal Hawaiian Sector Beach Agreement

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	27
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII