Committee clears SMA permit for Pupukea shoreline home with sea-level-rise conditions

The Zoning Committee amended and reported out Resolution 25-68, granting a Special Management Area (SMA) major permit to Donna and Jude Baker for a two-story single-family dwelling at 59205 Kainui Road in Pupukea, with conditions addressing coastal erosion and long-term shoreline risk.

The proposed project includes an elevated two-story residence, rooftop photovoltaic system, an elevated jacuzzi, courtyard, circular driveway with six parking spaces, installation of an individual wastewater system (IWS), perimeter fencing, landscaping improvements, and the attachment/placement of a 589-square-foot mobile dwelling to the ground. The Department of Land and Natural Resources land division raised concerns in a Dec. 2, 2024 letter about an existing concrete rubble masonry wall on the west side of the property that encroaches into the 60-foot shoreline setback and is expected to erode makai of the regulatory shoreline over time. The proposed CD1 includes Condition B-4 requiring the applicant, at the applicant's expense, to remove any portion of the wall that may eventually fall makai of the regulatory shoreline and within the State Land Use Conservation District.

The University of Hawaii sea level rise viewer was cited in the department presentation: approximately one-third of the makai portion of the project site is projected to be subject to coastal erosion with 3.2 feet of sea level rise by 2100, and about 20% of the mauka portion would be subject to coastal erosion with 2.2 feet of sea level rise by 2075. The Department of Planning and Permitting recommended the primary dwelling be relocated outside the 3.2-foot sea level rise coastal erosion line (roughly 100 feet mauka of the shoreline). The applicant proposes siting the primary dwelling mauka of the 60-foot shoreline setback and the 2-foot sea level rise erosion line; the department noted that the apparent higher elevation on the makai parcel portion is likely an elevated berm formed by large storm waves and composed primarily of Jokai sand to depths of about 100 feet.

The applicant's design uses elevated concrete micropile foundations to exceed the base flood elevation (more than 18 feet) and minimize imported fill. The plan places living areas above the base flood elevation, with ground level under the dwelling used only for parking. The applicant obtained an IWS permit in 2023; siting the septic tank may be complicated if the primary dwelling is relocated further inland because the lower-elevation mauka portion is prone to stormwater flooding.

The proposed CD1 includes multiple conditions: relocation of structures mauka of the 2-foot sea level rise erosion line (condition B-1), requirements for structural foundation design to remain sound throughout the operational life span (B-2), use of pervious surface materials for driveways and parking (B-3), and removal of wall portions that may erode onto state land (B-4). The committee received a presentation from the applicant's agent, Jim Hayes (Planning Solutions Inc.), who explained the site’s rocky reef and bedrock features and said the design minimizes importation of fill via micropiles but requested the ability to comply with engineering specifications that could require structural fill.

Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, Director of Planning and Permitting, said the department stood by its recommendation for approval with the CD1 conditions. The committee amended the resolution to CD1 and reported it out for adoption. No in-person or remote public testimony was recorded for this item during the hearing.

The committee’s action included conditions intended to address long-term coastal erosion risks and to require applicant-funded removal of structures that may encroach onto state lands as sea level rises.