Question: Sunday while walking along Kahala Avenue in Honolulu, I noticed new city Department of Parks and Recreation signs at the street entrances to three beach access paths restricting these long-standing beach access pathways to “residents only.” I have been using these pathways for over 30 years and found this new development alarming.
The beach access paths with the new signs restricting access to “residents only” were numbers 133A, 133B and 133C. The old signs said, “Beach Right of Way. Road for resident vehicles only. All others subject to tow away.” The new signs said, “Beach Right of Way (Residents Only).”
There are other beach access pathways along Kahala Avenue, such as 134A and 134B, that make no such restriction, and instead state, “Beach Right of Way (Pedestrian Only).” These pathways are narrow dirt paths between beach properties, while the pathways with the “Residents Only” signs are combination paths to the beach and narrow access roads for some of the flag-lot properties between Kahala Avenue and the beach.
Has there been a change of law or statute that has allowed the city to ban the public from using these three beach pathways? If there has been no change of statute, are these signs simply erroneously and not intentionally a violation of state law governing the use of public beach access pathways? Does the city have an explanation for why they put these three signs up?
Answer: They were put up by mistake, the city said, without explaining how the error occurred. Thanks to your complaint, they have been removed. Pedestrian use is allowed, whether or not a person lives on the lane.
“Mahalo for bringing these erroneous signs to our attention. These signs have been removed and will be replaced with signs containing the proper verbiage, which indicates that only vehicular traffic from resident and emergency personnel is allowed to utilize the right of way. The department and the city take open access to public beaches very seriously and we want to remind the public that pedestrian access is allowed on these right of ways,” Nate Serota, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, said in an email.
Hawaii’s beaches generally are public property to the highest wash of the wave. Shoreline access is a perpetual concern of Kokua Line readers. Along with your complaint about the Kahala signs, we’ve received recent complaints about property owners in Kailua and Kaneohe who let their naupaka or other greenery encroach on the beach or the pathway to it.
Anyone who notices such problems should alert the city, Serota said. While not responsible for every beach right of way on Oahu, it does oversee many of them.
“The Department of Parks and Recreation maintains dozens of the beach right of ways (BROWs) around Oahu. Our BROWs are indicated with a blue Department of Parks and Recreation sign and normally contain a yellow sign with an Emergency Response Location (ERL) number. In the case of overgrowth from an abutting property impeding on the right of way, we can trim the vegetation to allow for unabated public pedestrian access,” he said.
“We strongly encourage the public to please report these situations to the city. You can either contact the Department of Parks and Recreation directly at parks@honolulu.gov or you can report the issue using the city’s 311 app or by emailing the city’s Department of Customer Services at complaints@honolulu.gov,” Serota said, adding that complaints should include the location’s ERL number and the closest cross street.
For immediate traffic violations, call the Honolulu Police Department, he said.
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