Summary
Members debated whether the County should flag properties for rezoning based on sea level rise exposure, flood zones, or shoreline setback — and whether conditions like certified shoreline surveys and managed-retreat removal plans should attach. Storm damage from recent Kona Lows and hurricane swells framed the urgency.
At a glance
- Total mentions
- 4
- Last 30 days
- 0
Discussed at 2 meetings in the last 60 days; most recently Sep 17, 2026.
Impact analysis
Proposed conditions could require owners to fund shoreline surveys, document and bond structures, and eventually remove improvements encroaching on public trust lands.
The public, through protected beach access, public trust lands, and a planned retreat from eroding shorelines.
Shoreline property owners facing potential survey, bonding and removal obligations.
Mentions & discussions (4)
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 17, 2026
The committee kept the 3.2-foot SLR-XA threshold in policy 2.3.1 and debated a Māʻalaea managed-retreat policy that would support transferring development inland — deliberately worded as a support policy since the county doesn't own the land yet.
Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) — September 9, 2026
Members debated whether the County should flag properties for rezoning based on sea level rise exposure, flood zones, or shoreline setback — and whether conditions like certified shoreline surveys and managed-retreat removal plans should attach. Storm damage from recent Kona Lows and hurricane swells framed the urgency.
Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) — August 27, 2026
Testifiers clashed over whether sea level rise justifies hotel rezoning or instead demands managed retreat, buyouts, and removal of shoreline structures. Advocates cited the county's hazard mitigation plan ($1.2 billion in at-risk replacement value) and urged conditions like no further shoreline armoring and bonded removal obligations.
Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) — August 19, 2026
The 3.2-foot sea level rise exposure line is the trigger for this rezoning — but testifiers exposed a contradiction: owners call the same shoreline properties too risky for long-term residents yet fight to keep them as short-term rentals. Seawall failures, spalling, and managed retreat plans dominated testimony.
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