When a beachfront house collapsed into the ocean just four doors down from Eric Freeman鈥檚 property, he remembers having a 鈥渢otal panic attack.鈥� Two years later, the Sunset Beach homeowner faces nearly $1 million in fines for using an unauthorized system of giant sandbags to save his property from erosion.

鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 time for a two-year permit,鈥� he said at a hearing of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

Freeman isn鈥檛 the only Sunset Beach homeowner ordered to pay big fines for using illegal erosion control devices. William and Melinda Kernot are on the hook for $948,000, Rodney Youman and Zhungo LLC for $993,000. Freeman’s fines totals $937,000. After hours of hearings and testimony, all have been granted contested cases by the BLNR and are requesting mediation.

The landowners’ lawyer, Bernie Bays, said they were simply trying to protect their properties, a point he and the owners have made repeatedly at BLNR hearings.

鈥淎ll they’re trying to do is save their homes,” he said. “Actions and motivations are simple.”

As homeowners grapple with the law and the relentless force of the ocean, their neighbors and beach-goers deal with the half-torn sandbags and tarps strewn across the sand as a result of illegal erosion control structures.

The structures are becoming increasingly common along the North Shore, a hotspot for shoreline erosion.

They are not a fix-all. Erosion control devices were under scrutiny long before Hawaii outlawed them in 2020 for their impacts on public land and resources. Critics, including the Hawaii Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, say some of the devices actually exacerbate the erosion of public beaches for the benefit of a few property owners.

鈥淒LNR, they have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the public,鈥� said Randy Myers, a longtime North Shore resident. 鈥淲hat they do with the landowners is secondary to that.鈥�

Still, some homeowners feel that illegally installing these devices is their only option, leaving the community to confront a seemingly insoluble question: How can they protect Sunset Beach while also saving the homes that line its shores?

Protecting Homes, But At What Cost?

Some critics believe erosion control structures do more harm than good. And it’s not just that they can speed erosion as waves reflect against them and pull sand out to sea.

Erosion structures, including giant black sandbags known as burritos, can also generate harmful debris, said Denise Antolini, a lawyer and community advocate for beach restoration. This debris often winds up along the shoreline or in the ocean, creating hazardous conditions for marine life and beachgoers.

Still, landowners can sometimes legally obtain emergency permits to use these devices. In the case of the Freeman, Kernot and Youman properties, however, the state OCCL alleges that landowners either did not do this or failed to meet their permits’ conditions.

Moreover, they allegedly failed to stop their work after numerous warnings, leading to an accumulation of fines. Bays said he does not know why the homeowners continued after being warned.

Myers says that repeat violators are often motivated by the income that comes from renting out their properties as illegal vacation homes.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 where the money is,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese guys are making bank on these illegal rentals.鈥�

Both Youman and the Kernots appear to run rental units, according to Antolini. Bays said he didn’t know whether his clients were renting out their properties short term.

Antolini also questions whether the homeowners bothered to gain an understanding of the severe erosion problems on Sunset Beach when they were considering buying homes there. Freeman, for one, bought his property “sight unseen,” Bays told BLNR during a Dec. 7 hearing.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just an affront to Hawaii residents in our North Shore community,鈥� Antolini said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the problem, in my view, of offshore owners not doing their due diligence and not really giving a rip about the community or the beach.鈥�

‘Nobody There To Help Us’

Homeowners have a different perspective. Freeman laid out his stand in testimony before the BLNR. A self-proclaimed “huge environmentalist,” he apologized and said he had few options. For him, erosion control wasn’t an issue of public versus private interests.

鈥淎ren鈥檛 we on the same team in the fact that a two-story house falling into the beach is a bad thing?鈥� he asked the board.

Freeman said that he sought other measures before resorting to the structures that have now led to fines of nearly a million dollars, but that he had little luck in getting his permit requests approved. When his neighbor鈥檚 house collapsed, he said it became increasingly clear that he was on his own.

鈥淚 called the governor, I called the mayor, I called every Congress person,鈥� Freeman said. 鈥淲e were just in this horrible situation where it was like this natural disaster happened right in front of our house and there was nobody there to help us and no answers on what we could possibly do to keep that house from falling into the water.鈥�

He said the pandemic prevented him from flying in from the mainland to see the property when he spent $2.5 million to buy it in 2020.

Bays told the board that Freeman is doing what he can to save the home.

鈥淭hey buy this house, sight unseen, it鈥檚 got a huge beach,鈥� Bays said. 鈥淭he next thing they鈥檙e trying to do is defend their house.鈥�

The ‘Frenemies Consensus’

With homeowners racking up millions of dollars in fines and the shoreline receding, the community is desperate for a solution.

鈥淭his beach needs to be restored, and we need to figure out how to do that,鈥� Bays said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 going on right now is unacceptable to everybody.鈥�

While disagreements over erosion seem to have divided landowners and beachgoers, Antolini said their collective goal of restoration can also unite them.

鈥淎ll of this community effort and kind of homeowner engagement and all of that has led to some very interesting, positive relationships,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really helped build a community that is looking for solutions.鈥�

Antolini supports , which calls for the development of a beach and dune management plan on the North Shore. The bill, which Antolini says is backed by diverse interests, has been dubbed the 鈥淔renemies Consensus.鈥� It is awaiting Gov. Josh Green’s signature.

鈥淚 really feel that there are some potential solutions out there that could be a win-win,鈥� Antolini said.

If the governor approves it, HB 2248 will allot $1 million to the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program for creation of a management plan to “address beach erosion and the erosion of private beachfront property, protection of recreational access and preservation of natural beauty and vistas.”

But such a plan won’t necessarily please all the stakeholders. The bill calls for it to consider, among other possibilities, “potential relocation of homes, infrastructure and roadways.”

鈥淥ur hope is, by developing the beach and dune management plan, it acts as a precursor and perhaps a catalyst to a longer-term adaptation plan,鈥� said Dolan Eversole of the Sea Grant College Program.

Civil Beat鈥檚 coverage of climate change is supported by The Healy Foundation, Marisla Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.聽