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A Hawaii homeowner finds himself in hot water after his once-luxurious oceanfront home on Oahu’s North Shore collapsed into the ocean. Now, the state is demanding he cover the cleanup costs, The New York Post reported on Monday.
State officials filed a complaint on Wednesday, stating that debris from the collapsed home — including concrete, wood and broken glass — has littered the public beach.
According to Hawaii News Now, officers from the Hawaii Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE) responded to the property on Ke Nui Road near Sunset Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 24, following reports of waves damaging the home. Upon arrival, they found large portions of the structure on state land, with debris washing into the ocean.
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Local residents have voiced their frustration over the debris, with some taking to social media to express their concerns.
Under an Instagram video showing the wreckage, a local named Kevin Makana Emery wrote, “The State of Hawaii officials could’ve prevented this! But they did absolutely nothing. This situation has been going on for years.”
Kevin Makana Emery | Instagram
According to The New York Post, VanEmmerik, 31-year-old Kailua bar owner, had already faced a $77,000 fine last year for erosion control violations at his home. When he purchased the property for $1 million in 2021, the listing had warned of erosion risks.
Neighbors, including Ken Bradshaw, said the collapse was inevitable due to the area’s severe erosion. “Erosion’s going to take place … I warned him myself three times — do not buy this property,” Bradshaw told Island News at the time.
VanEmmerik later remodeled the home and listed it for $2.5 million. By the time it collapsed, the price had dropped to $2 million. Despite his efforts to protect the home using sandbags, concrete and rocks, state officials said these measures failed to meet regulations, and the homeowner didn’t remove unauthorized structures in time.
“Private landowners take a risk when they allow structures to be so close to the shoreline,” Deputy Attorney General Danica Swenson told Hawaii News Now. “The people of Hawaii are now confronted with the consequences of property owners’ failures to take heed of the ocean’s warning signs of erosion.”
The complaint against VanEmmerik argues that once the home collapsed, the debris became “unwanted material” on state-owned land. In Hawaii, all beaches up to the high tide mark are public property; the state is now determined to see the wreckage cleaned up for public safety.
The damage remains a point of contention for locals, and restoring the area is expected to be both costly and time-consuming.
“Talking about extremely dangerous to our community members, broken glass, metal, nails, BS covering the entire beaches … Emery said. “This is the beach that my daughter plays.”
Hawaii News Now reports that the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands is working alongside the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation to clear debris from the shoreline, while demolition crews are dismantling the remaining parts of the house.
