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There’s no stretch of sand more important to the future of Hawaii than Waikiki Beach.

And it’s disappearing.

As the state government and visitor industry team up on a multi-million-dollar project to create more dry land for tourists and locals alike, a developer is in the process of building a massive redeveloped tower even closer to the water than before.

Kyo-ya has designed its new Diamond Head Tower to withstand the rising tides of climate change and meet the changing needs of 21st Century vacationers.

But does their plan for the future of Waikiki meet Hawaii’s needs?

That question yields no easy answers. The debate is a tangled web of important and competing values: the economic viability of one of Hawaii’s largest hoteliers and employers; viewplane preservation for multiple Honolulu neighborhoods; and the environmental impacts of shoreline erosion and sea-level rise.

Setting a Precedent

The project at the center of the firestorm is a new 300-foot tower on the Diamond Head end of the strip, adjacent to the historic Moana Surfrider, just feet from the sand. It was approved by the City and County of Honolulu and is now being appealed.

Executives at Kyo-ya say it makes sense to concentrate tourism and growth in one area, and that the new project is critical for the health of Waikiki.

But some opponents worry that exempting the new tower from longstanding zoning rules will set a dangerous precedent that could change the face of the neighborhood for the worse and deal long-term damage to the state’s economic engine — and environmental resources.

Opponents — including the Surfrider Foundation, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and Kahea, the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance — organized a earlier this month. Carrying signs encouraging officials to “Draw The Line In the Sand,” they complained that the proposed new tower is more than triple the height of the existing eight-story tower in that spot.

“Do you want Honolulu to become Hong Kong, where it’s a city of high-rises … or do you want to maintain what we have and not kill the goose that laid the golden egg?” asked Stuart Coleman, Hawaii coordinator for Surfrider Foundation, in a phone interview with Civil Beat.

New Seawall, More Erosion?

One of Coleman’s principal complaints is that a higher seawall, part of Kyo-ya’s development plans, will exacerbate coastal erosion problems that have narrowed Waikiki Beach dramatically in recent decades.

The problem has become so critical that the state recently unveiled a $2.4 million project to replenish the sand along a 1,700-foot section of shoreline from the Duke Kahanamoku statue to the Royal Hawaiian. Kyo-ya and the Hawaii Tourism Authority are kicking in $500,000 apiece, with the balance to be picked up by the state government.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie said at the beachfront press conference announcing the project that sand replenishment will need to be a continual investment in Waikiki. Asked by this reporter about whether seawalls contribute to erosion problems and if humans should stop hardening the shoreline, the governor deferred to the scientists.

“Anything having to do with a scientific assessment of what happens with wave action or beach erosion is dependent upon those who understand these things best,” he said. “I think politicians, businesspeople and even well-meaning community folks are the last ones to ask in that regard.”

The beach replenishment program would not expand the beach in front of the proposed tower. If the program is expanded to that section, it could provide some more room to work with. And the Kyo-ya team is quick to point out that all proposed construction will take place mauka of the existing seawall, which should quell some erosion concerns.

Chip Fletcher heads up the Coastal Geology Group at the University of Hawaii’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and is one of the state’s leading voices on erosion and climate change. He said seawalls are a major factor in coastal erosion in certain areas, but that the “fateful decision” to first build them in Waikiki was made more than a century ago and likely can’t be reversed now.

“It’s a shame that 120, 150 years ago we made the first mistake. The dominoes have fallen, the horse is out of the barn, Waikiki is what it is,” Fletcher said. “Preventing this one hotel from being renovated is, in my mind, not going to do a thing.

“Wouldn’t it be great if there were no buildings on Waikiki Beach at all and there was a 300-foot setback?” he said. “The issue is much more complicated than people tend to think about and it becomes much more complicated than simply tearing down a seawall.”

Fletcher said impending sea level rise is only going to make erosion worse, and opponents have said building closer to the shore despite climate change is short-sighted. The company says its plans take the changing conditions into account by raising the ground floor.

Kyo-ya: Waikiki Needs Redevelopment

Kyo-ya says there are many good reasons it chose to move forward on this particular proposal.

The parcel — between the Moana and the police substation — is so narrow that merely pushing the project away from the ocean is impossible. In fact, a setback from Kalakaua Avenue has already forced developers to shave mauka-side rooms off of the highest floors in their modeling. Even the current proposal is still shorter than the twin Hyatt towers on the other side of the street.

On the makai side of the building, the company has pointed to a 1965 Beach Agreement in which the state essentially promised that the beach would extend further out into the ocean. Based at least partially on that unkept promise, the city said the hotel could be closer to the sea and taller than would have otherwise been allowed.

The company says the new tower, because it will be perpendicular instead of parallel to the shoreline, will create open spaces, beach access and public view corridors that improve Waikiki.

Perhaps most importantly, developers say, is that the existing tower is old and isn’t the money-maker it used to be, at least in part because it runs parallel to the beach and has too many rooms facing the street with no view of the ocean. With more vacation destinations competing for tourists’ dollars than ever before, they say, Waikiki needs to step up its game if it expects to remain popular for future generations.

“We cannot rest on our laurels and think that Waikiki is going to continue to be a visitor destination if we don’t improve our product,” Kyo-ya President Greg Dickhens told Civil Beat in a meeting at his office in the Sheraton Waikiki, which the company also owns.

“If we can improve the amenities and add more public benefits, we can create a Waikiki that is sustainable,” he said in an email.

Coleman, the Surfrider leader, said maintaining the profits of a multinational corporation shouldn’t be a top priority in Hawaii’s land use and planning decisions. Asked if it makes sense to grant exceptions in Waikiki if it means developers are less likely to look to expand into undeveloped or rural areas, he scoffed.

“That would be a good plan except they’re developing everywhere all the time. There’s relentless pressure to develop,” he said. “It’s not just ‘no’ to all development. Let’s do smart development that’s going to be sustainable, that’s going to last.”