A plan to get Waikiki property owners to pool their resources to help pay for maintenance and restoration of Oahu’s most iconic beach cleared its first hurdle before the City Council Zoning Committee on Thursday.

Bill 81 allows for special improvement tax districts to be created for shoreline improvement, restoration and protection projects. Bill 82 creates the Waikiki special improvement tax district.

Both bills now go to the full Council for the second of three necessary votes on Feb. 18.

They were introduced by former Councilman Stanley Chang, who represented Waikiki; Council Chairman Ernie Martin; and Councilman Ikaika Anderson.

The effort is being spearheaded by the Waikiki Improvement Association.

The initial plan calls for the district to tax the owners of all commercial properties in Waikiki 7.63 cents per $1,000 of the assessed value of their land with the goal of collecting $600,000 annually.

Besides funding a coordinator for the Waikiki Beach Management District, the money would go toward paying half the $1.3 million cost of replacing the sand at the Royal Hawaiian groin, the section of the beach that runs from Kuhio Beach Crib Walls to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, a distance of about 2,700 feet. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is expected to foot the rest of the bill.

The beach is eroding at a rate of about a foot a year. Sam Lemmo, DLNR’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands administrator, said his agency has undertaken two sand nourishment projects in recent years. He estimates the beach needs to be replenished every five to 10 years "to keep up with the loss from year to year."

The last replenishment project was a partnership between DLNR, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and Kyo-Ya Hotels and Resorts, which owns a number of the properties along the beach.

Waikiki property owners already pay into the Waikiki Business Improvement District fund — anywhere from 12.5 cents to 50 cents per $1,000, depending on their location — in addition to their regular property tax bills. A beach improvement district fee would be added to those costs.

That fund pays for streetscape maintenance, "aloha ambassadors" and overtime hours for Hono­lulu Police Department patrol officers.

Rick Egged, Waikiki Improvement Association president, said the new beach tax district would have a board of directors that would decide what other beach-related activities it would help fund under a management plan.

But Egged emphasized that "this is not a development agency," adding, "It’s not going to do these projects on its own."

Rather, it will help provide financial support to state and city agencies.

Gary Kurokawa, deputy director of the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, told committee members that Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration wants to make sure the city is reimbursed for any costs the new fund would incur.

"We’re looking at the cost of implementing the billing and collection of the fee," Kurokawa said.

The city already needs to manage two existing business improvement district funds and it’s likely others may be created in the future, he said.

Egged said his organization is not opposed to including language in the bills that would allow the city to recoup its costs.