The largest fine for shoreline setback encroachments ever imposed by Maui County was approved as part of a settlement agreement by the Maui Planning Commission on Tuesday.

Larry and Sara Dodge, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and Makena, will pay $65,000 to settle four county violations, remove a wall and seek after-the-fact permits for repairs done to their deck.

The settlement still requires the signature of Mayor Charmaine Tavares, and before the Dodges can remove the wall they will need permits from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Their lawyer, Paul Mancini, told the commission that the Dodges “have been through a hellish nightmare for three years” since purchasing the 17,000-square-foot lot at Paako Beach, also known as Secret Beach, for $6 million.

The five-bedroom house was a fixer-upper, assessed by the Real Property Tax Division at only $250,000, and, according to Mancini, the Dodges made repairs to their deck and built what the settlement describes as a “planter-box wall.”

DLNR officials decided that, since it was at least partially built on sand, it was in the state conservation district and required a conservation district permit. Once the county became aware of the state position, it issued violations for work in the shoreline setback area without a setback permit or a special management area permit.

Similar violations were issued for the deck work.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Mimi Johnston described the fines as the largest of their type ever imposed by the county.

The long negotiations for a settlement were complicated “by cross-jurisdictional issues,” Mancini said.

The house also needed roof repairs, but the owners could not get a permit for that until they cleared up their outstanding violations on the shoreline problems.

Commission member Ward Mardfin noticed that in one place in the agreement the wall was described as a seawall, and he asked whether the work involved “hardening of the shoreline.”

Mancini said: “There is some question about exactly what it is,” but he described it as “rocks fronting a sand beach,” at least in part. He also said the spot was “perceived by some to be conservation land.”

The term “planter-box wall” was agreed to after discussions. Johnston said “a big hurdle” in the settlement talks was how to characterize the wall.

Mancini described the situation as “very complex,” especially after the DLNR citation was treated as a contested case.

Now that the county issues are on the verge of being disposed of, Mancini said, “I think the state will be cooperative with us” in authorizing permits to remove the wall.

The beach in question is a tiny pocket beach with scattered lava rocks jutting out of the sand. It is a favorite spot for weddings.

– Hawaii has broken its streak of more than three years of rising real estate foreclosure filings.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac reports that there were 930 foreclosure actions statewide in July, a 6 percent decline from the 990 in the same month last year.

It was the first year-over-year drop for any month since May 2007, a string of 37 straight months.

This report comes after RealtyTrac said last month that foreclosures in Honolulu increased 72 percent in the first half of the year compared to the first six months of 2009.

July’s foreclosure count was the lowest for any month since 872 filings in November. The peak was 1,534 in December.

Maui News

WAILUKU – Kainani Street continues to bedevil developer HRT Ltd.’s plans to build a shopping center around a Safeway supermarket across from Baldwin High School.

Critics have raised concerns about how the project would affect traffic and safety on the residential road located just mauka of the planned commercial center.

In their latest proposal, the developers proposed installing a raised curb to cordon off Kainani Street where it turns right onto Kaahumanu Avenue. The so-called “bulb-out” would prevent cars headed out of Wailuku toward the new shopping center from merging into traffic from Kainani Street.

But the idea wasn’t popular, and some said it would make the intersection more dangerous.

“The only thing positive that can be said about the bulb-out is that it’s close to the hospital and the police station,” quipped Planning Commission Chairman Jonathan Starr.

Upon learning that state Department of Transportation Director Brennon Morioka had asked for the traffic-flow device, Starr asked developers’ consultant Mike Munekiyo to write Morioka and ask him to reconsider.

The planning commission approved a finding of no significant impact and accepted an environmental assessment for the project. But the vote was split 5-3, with those voting “no” expressing concerns over traffic and Native Hawaiian burials on the site.

Commissioner Ward Mardfin was among those voting against, and he moved to defer the matter for more discussion. Commissioners Penny Wakida and Lori Sablas voted with him.

The majority voting to accept the report were Commissioners Jack Freitas, Kent Hiranaga, Donna Domingo, Warren Shibuya and Orlando Tagorda.

Starr did not vote, as is customary for the chairman of the commission, who usually votes only to break a tie.

The majority noted that Tuesday’s action does not stop the discussion or preclude further demands of the developer when it comes in for phase two project district approval.

The panel is awaiting a report from the Maui/Lanai Islands Burial Council about graves on the 12-acre site. Consultant archaeologist Lisa Rotunno-Hazukan said 19 burials have been discovered in the sand, with the possibility of more when excavation for the 105,000-square-foot center is done.

Twelve are to be left where they now lie near the intersection of Kainani and Kaahumanu, while three or four other burials that currently lie in the path of the entrance road are to be moved to join the larger group. Three other individual burials will be kept where they are in the parking lot, covered with stones and marked off with fences.

This arrangement was planned in consultation with the burial council, but it has not satisfied nearby resident Clare Apana, who says that she is a spiritual practitioner responsible for the area.

The Maui Lani development, of which Maui Lani Shopping Center is a commercial component, overlaps part of the historic battlefield of Kakanilua (which is said to have been fought between Native Hawaiian armies from the Big Island and Maui over an area from Sand Hills to north Kihei). The site is especially sensitive because many chiefs of the Big Island were killed by the Maui army.

Rotunno-Hazuka said the burials discovered so far don’t show any signs of battle trauma and that several are women, children or infants.

Apana complained that she had not been allowed to submit information for the cultural inventory assessment before submission of comments on the draft EA, but HRT cultural consultant Kimokea Kapahulehua said he had contacted her and would consult with her before the process ended.

Apana objected to considering the shopping center lot in isolation, saying that burials have been discovered throughout Sand Hills and that more will be found. Kane Akua said development “never leaves time for the ancestors.”

Theresa Wright, who said she had initially opposed the center when she “heard rumors” about it in 2007, said she is now satisfied with changes made since she began meeting with the developers.

She would have preferred that it be located elsewhere, but she was pleased that it is now smaller than the 130,000 square feet originally proposed, and especially that Kainani, the entrance to Sand Hills subdivision, will not be used as an entrance into the shopping center.

Munekiyo said HRT is in discussions with Baldwin High to see what can be done to move school traffic more efficiently.

He said if more unloading space can be found, it should be possible to handle school traffic more efficiently, which in turn would help mitigate problems on Kaahumanu Avenue.

It was the prospect of managing traffic from the high school, plus the shopping center plus commuters, on a main artery that caused the state Highways Division to insist on changes to the traffic pattern.

That led to a somewhat complicated arrangement that will provide an “auxiliary lane” from the exit of the shopping center on Kaahumanu leading down to Maui Lani Parkway. A traveler would not have to enter the main flow on Kaahumanu before ducking off into Maui Lani

(Maui News)

The Honolulu Board of Realtors says Oahu’s existing housing market remained relatively stable in July.The board said Monday that 268 single-family homes traded hands last month, compared with 266 in July of last year.

The median sales price for the July sales was $605,000, up 1.7 percent from the $595,000 posted the year before.

Meanwhile, the number of condominiums sold in July fell 6.7 percent to 320, and the median sales price for condos dropped 2.7 percent to $299,000.

The board also said sales closed faster in July, with single-family homes listing for 39 days, down from 45 days, and condos down to 36 days from 56.

Board President Brian Benton says Oahu’s market seems to be doing better than its counterparts on the Mainland.

Maui News_

Two minor brush fires were discovered near the Lahaina Fire Station at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

They were brought under control within an hour, but traffic on Honoapiilani Highway was diverted to Lower Honoapiilani Road for a time to avoid the smoke.

No information on the cause and size of the fires was available late Sunday.

In Wailuku, the Fire Department mopped up fires that erupted Saturday and Thursday.

Thirty acres were burned in a fire in abandoned macadamia nut fields off of Kahekili Highway in Wailuku, which was reported around 1 p.m. Saturday, county officials said Sunday.

The fire was contained at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, and the Wailuku fire crew remained at the scene overnight, fire officials said.

The fire sent huge plumes of smoke to the nearby Wailuku Country Estates on Saturday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage, the county said in a release.

There were no significant flare-ups Sunday, the county reported.

Also on Sunday, the county reported that Thursday’s late-night fire that erupted below Wailuku Heights and near the Kehalani subdivision was declared extinguished at 6:45 p.m. Saturday.

An estimated 60 acres were burned, and there were no injuries or damage to structures, the county said.

The fire was first reported at 11:49 p.m. Thursday, and hundreds of residents of Iliahi Townhomes, The Ohia at Kehalani and the Villas were evacuated for part of early Friday morning as firefighters battled the blaze nearby.

The causes of the Wailuku fires are still under investigation.