A Line in the Sand: Rally for Waikiki

CONTACT: Marti Townsend, Program Director, KAHEA, 808-372-1314, marti@kahea.org; Stuart Coleman, 808-942-3841, scoleman34@gmail.com

Honolulu, Oahu (May 4, 2011):  KAHEA:  The Hawaii Environmental Alliance will help lead a rally to protest the proposed plan by Kyo-Ya Resort and Hotels to build a new massive tower next to the historic Moana Hotel on Waikiki Beach.  The rally will take place on Saturday, May 7th, and concerned citizens are invited to meet at the Zoo at 9:30 a.m. to walk down Kalakaua Ave. to the proposed site at 10:00 a.m.  The rally will last about an hour, and participants are asked to wear blue and to bring their families and friends.  Members from environmental groups like KAHEA, Surfrider Foundation, Hawaii’s Thousand Friends and the Ka Iwi Coalition will also be in attendance.

As part of the Waikiki Special District, zoning laws were passed decades ago to protect the treasured beaches of Waikiki and to limit shoreline development and the coastal erosion that comes with it.  Existing hotels were allowed to remain as they were, and the understanding was that all subsequent developments had to follow the new zoning codes.  But Kyo-ya and its corporate partners in New York want special exemptions to tear down an existing 8-story building and create a new 26-story tower. The Dept. of Planning and Permitting granted them variances to violate the existing height and shoreline setback requirements, but a coalition of petitioners is seeking to appeal this decision.

“We’re asking people to draw a line in the sand against Kyo-Ya’s plans,” says Tim Tybuszewski, Surfrider’s Oahu Chapter Co-Chair, “because their new development will create a dangerous precedent for other developers to ask for similar exemptions from the zoning code so they too can start building taller towers closer to the water.  While other high-end hotels such as the Hale Kulani have successfully abided by the rules, Kyo-Ya asserts they shouldn’t have to adhere to the zoning code.”

According to the zoning laws, beachfront buildings in Waikiki must be built 100-feet inland of the vegetation line. Shoreline setbacks were designed to protect our beaches and public safety, but Kyo-Ya wants to build new structures closer to the water and to harden the shoreline with a higher seawall.  This is likely to cause more beach erosion.  No amount of sand replenishment will be able to restore or save Waikiki’s already shrinking beaches in the face of more construction, storms, hurricanes, tsunamis and sea level rise.  Kyo-ya asserts that beach sand replenishment, which will be paid for mostly by the taxpayers, will restore the beach in front of their new tower and wall, but for how long?  As other walls on the Waikiki shoreline demonstrate, where the shoreline has been hardened, the beach washes away and with it goes beach access.

The new tower will also contribute to the canyon effect, dwarfing the beautiful and historic Moana Hotel and further destroying Waikiki’s unique sense of place.  If approved, Kyo-ya’s plans could motivate a new wave of developers to seek the same exemptions and build more towers and more walls on the Waikiki shoreline.  Rally organizers invite other groups and citizens to join their protest to see where the proposed new tower will be built and learn more about how this development will affect Waikiki.