Beach Access Bill Passed in HI

The new law requires the Department of Land and Natural Resources to maintain beach transit corridors by prohibiting land owners from planting vegetation that interferes with the corridors. It also establishes access to the corridors as a policy within the Coastal Zone Management Program. Notice will be given to property owners adjacent to the corridors if vegetation from their property blocks access to the shoreline. The department has the authority to take enforcement action if the issue is not resolved after 21 days. All beaches in Hawaii are supposed to be accessible by the public, but increasingly, private landowners were blocking passages with overgrown vegetation or extending their yards further toward the ocean on public beaches. Although the bill targets landowners' use of vegetation to block beach access, it also includes language that enforces laws against the use of gates, fences, walls and signs as well.