Oahu residents fined nearly $1M each for unauthorized work on beachfront properties

Aerial view of Oahu, Hawaii. Two homeowners on the North Shore of Oahu were fined nearly $1 million each by the state for work they did to protect their homes from erosion. Two homeowners with properties fronting Paumalu Beach on the North Shore of Oahu in were fined nearly $1 million each by the state for work they did to protect their homes from erosion.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a news release Friday that Rodney Youman, who owns a home at 59 149 Ke Nui Road, was fined $993,000 for unauthorized work on public lands. The release said the state also fined William and Melinda Kernot — who own a home next door at 59 151 Ke Nui Road — $948,000 for similar violations.

While the homes are privately owned, the beach they front belongs to the state. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Both amounts were a combination of several smaller fines. Youman, for example, was fined $15,000 for constructing a makeshift seawall on the beach, and $75,000 for ignoring the department’s request to stop all work for four days.

He was also fined $1,000 per day, totaling $873,000, for each day his structures remained on the beach. The Kernots were fined $15,000 for installing a — long tubes filled with sand meant to protect the beach from ocean waves — and another $45,000 for ignoring the department’s notice to stop all work for three days.

Like Youman, the Kernots were also subject to a $1,000 per day fine, also totaling $873,000, for the more than two years they failed to remove their structures. In its news release, the department acknowledged that erosion on the beach has increased over the past several years, attributing it to an “acceleration in sea level rise this century.” However, the release said structures like the ones Youman and the Kernots built tend to damage beaches.

The two parties were ordered to pay their respective fines on Friday. Both have requested contested case hearings, which are meant to protect the rights of those who may be affected by a state agency’s decision. The department said in its news release that money spent removing their structures from the beach could be subtracted from their fines.

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