State officials are trying to convince all County Councils to establish more scientific criteria when defining "shoreline". Using the model Maui is using, they believe this could spare potential builders and homeowners of beachfront developments the agony of losing their assets to the forces of nature.
"...Maui has already set an example, according to Eversole. "They've gone away from a standard 40-foot setback and they're actually looking at the rate of erosion when they calculate how far from the shoreline you need to set yourself," he said.
One way used in Maui to find the local erosion rate is through plotting the changes in a beach's shoreline over the years with aerial photographs and then using a formula to estimate the size of the erosion hazard zone.
The quicker the erosion rate, the larger the hazard zone.
The state hasn't always had its current approach to looking at the shoreline. Last summer groups, including the Sierra Club, filed a lawsuit to invalidate the Board of Land and Natural Resources' definition of shoreline, which they said gave preference to the vegetation line.
The lawsuit was dropped after the board agreed to amend its rules.
Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter, who along with Conger and others in the department yesterday, said that he was pleased with the changes in the way the state certifies the shoreline..."
Miulang
"...Maui has already set an example, according to Eversole. "They've gone away from a standard 40-foot setback and they're actually looking at the rate of erosion when they calculate how far from the shoreline you need to set yourself," he said.
One way used in Maui to find the local erosion rate is through plotting the changes in a beach's shoreline over the years with aerial photographs and then using a formula to estimate the size of the erosion hazard zone.
The quicker the erosion rate, the larger the hazard zone.
The state hasn't always had its current approach to looking at the shoreline. Last summer groups, including the Sierra Club, filed a lawsuit to invalidate the Board of Land and Natural Resources' definition of shoreline, which they said gave preference to the vegetation line.
The lawsuit was dropped after the board agreed to amend its rules.
Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter, who along with Conger and others in the department yesterday, said that he was pleased with the changes in the way the state certifies the shoreline..."
Miulang
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