Over the winter of 2001-2002, the public was excluded from
using its surf spots on the North Shore of Oahu more than ever before. Contests
are staged at the best spots all winter long and the vast majority of surfers
believe that they are not getting a fair chance to surf these places.
The
Amended
Rules governing the issuance of contest permits were adopted by
Walter Ozawa, the Parks Director on October 9, 1991 and approved by Mayor
Frank Fasi on October 24, 1991. These rules amended a former set of
rules established by City Ordinance in 1978.
The City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation is
responsible for issuing beach permits to run surf contests. The State
of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources issues permits for use
of the near shore waters. Each permit authorizes a contest promoter
to reserve up to four of the best days of surf within a limited number of
days. The public is allowed to surf whenever a contest is not in progress
(i.e., the inferior days). Permitted holding periods are scheduled
at three sites, continuously from October through March.
The rules were not followed in 2001 because the City is afraid of lawsuits.
There are more groups seeking permits than there are permits to grant.
Having been sued in 1999 and 2000 over its permit award procedures,
the City granted permits to all comers in 2001. Although the City's
decision making process was upheld in court, it seemed to make its decisions
not on its own rules, but rather on who was likely to bring suit. While
they feared litigation from contest promoters, they were less concerned
about a public backlash. Because of the Parks Department's inability
to protect the public's interests in beach access,
Let's Surf Coalition
was formed.
Now, it should be said that choosing between competing permit applications
is not an easy task. As an example, who should be allowed to hold
a contest if three groups applying for the same permit are a men's professional
surf contest, a women's professional bodyboard contest or an amateur surf
contest? The City has rules for conflict resolution, but they have
been problematic and the City wants to overhaul all of the rules.
Unfortunately, the proposed rules reserve more time against the public.
A deafening outcry was heard by the Parks Department when they presented
a draft of new rules at a public hearing on December 20, 2000. The
crowd made clear that the proposed rules were not acceptable. A
new draft of proposed
rules , released on June 15, 2001, corrected some of the most egregious
issues, but left several other unacceptable rules in place.
Proposed Rules
The biggest problem with the proposed rules is that the number of contests
will increase. At the public hearing on December 20, 2000, the public
spoke loudly and clearly that, if anything, there are already too many
contests. Here are the major concerns of Let's Surf Coalition regarding
the proposed rules.
Season Calendar: The City would define the surf calendar
as October through March. Contests scheduled the week before and
the week after this calendar would not be regulated by the rules.
Obviously,
these are surf contests held on the North Shore and they should be including
in any calculation on the number of contests.
Half Days: Competition held for less than four hours in
a day would count as a half-day. Contests would be run over four
full- days or eight half-days or any combination thereof.
The
contests already get the four best days to run their event. Allowing
them to pick the best eight half-days will deprive the public of whatever
few decent waves may have been left over.
Number of Contests: The proposal is to increase the allowable
number of events per beach to five per year.
As previously mentioned,
four events per beach is already a burden on the public.
What Went Wrong in 2001-2002?
Some of the rules were flagrantly violated; some of them were loosely
interpreted.
Too Many Events: Six events were scheduled
at Pipeline and the combined number of contest days exceeded the limit
of 16 days of competition.
Back-to-Back-to Back Events: The rules require a "cooling-off
period" of at least 10 days between a contest at any given beach. Three
event holding periods, totaling 40 days, were scheduled at Pipeline without
a single day between them.
Length of Holding Period: The rules limit a contest holding
period to 15 days, except as authorized by the Director of the Department
of Parks and Recreation. The Backdoor Shootout was given an 20-day
holding period.
Simultaneous Events: The holding of two surf meets at
the same time is not allowed. One event was scheduled at Haleiwa
at the same time as an event at Pipeline. Also, The Women's Bodyboard
Championship at Pipeline and the NSSA at Haleiwa shared a holding period,
even though their events alternated competition days.
Conflict Resolution: The City, whose
Conflict Resolution
Procedures were upheld in court, ironically chose not to exercise
this part of the rules for fear that they might get sued.
Other Concerns
Many residents who live at or near contest sites complain that surf contests
generate unwanted traffic congestion, illegally parked cars, tresspassers,
litter and noise. Scaffolding erected at these sites usually have large
banners and signs that would not normally be allowed under the State's signage
laws that prohibit billboards.
Pressure for More Contests
The City thought it could alleviate its permit headache by increasing
the number of events to six per beach and by allowing two simultaneous events.
In fact, they had to allow simultaneous events in order to schedule
so many more events. The public went crazy and the City changed its
plan. The last proposal would allow a simultaneous event at Mokuleia, but
not amongst the other beaches.
The problem is simply a matter of supply and demand. The number
of good quality surf days is limited. As contests become more profitable
for contest promoters, their requests for more contests will increase. Meanwhile,
the total number of recreational surfers is growing and this increases
demand on all surf spots for more public access.
Let's Surf Coalition wants to help find a fair balance between the
competing interests. The new rules need to balance many concerns
and we need everyone's input. Please feel free to participate in
a
Forum
, take our
Survey
, visit our
Guest Book and, most importatnly,
Become a Supporter
. Together, we can sort this out.