HALEIWA, Hawaii (KHON2) -- Beach erosion has been an issue for decades. In 1961, Governor William Quinn asked a beach erosion board from the U.S. Army Engineers to review the state's erosion problems, specifically in Haleiwa and Waikiki. Check out what's going on around the nation on our National News page A Nov. 21, 1961 Star-Bulletin article quotes the then-Governor saying, “In trying to cope with these problems we find, we are faced with beach erosion that is unique to Hawaii and have no adequate information of factual data available.” For decades, the state allowed sand mining at beaches across the islands. For North Shore, tons of sand were taken from places like Waimea Bay, Kahuku and Ke Iki. Demolition begins on eroding home near Sunset Beach The state eventually outlawed taking sand from beaches in the 1970s but by then, homes were already built along the shoreline. "When you buy a piece of coastal property, you assume the exposure to hazards that comes with it," explained the Interim Dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. In the 1980s, the homes along the stretch of Ke Nui Road between 'Rock Pile' and 'Off the Wall' were at risk of falling into the ocean. The seven homeowners at the time didn't wait for permits and went ahead with building a 700-foot rock revetment to save their homes. In exchange, the homeowners gave the city 23,000 square feet of private land in front of their homes so today's bike path could be built. Over time, the beach came back. Experts argued that's not the solution for all other homeowners. Shoreline hardening has been shown to contribute to beach erosion by interfering with the natural flow of sand along the coast, and by impounding sand behind seawalls. Studies have shown that sites with a natural coastal dune can recover after erosion events, while sites with hardened shorelines do not recover as quickly. In some cases they do not recover at all. Act 16 (HB 1176), passed in 2020, prohibited the construction of new, private seawalls at sites having sandy beaches. Michael Cain, Administrator of the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands in a statement ‘It’s an absolute disaster unfolding in front of our eyes’: North Shore homes collapse into the ocean "The state and the county don't have any legal obligation to protect coastal homeowners from sea level rise, tsunami, hurricanes or coastal erosion," Fletcher explained. He said the state does have an obligation to protect public resources and said the best thing to do is remove the properties along the coast and let the sand return to the beach. "The ocean is inexorably rising, we cannot stop it, it's going to continue for centuries and centuries, and all coastal homes are ultimately doomed by erosion," Fletcher added. A North Shore beach management plan was passed last legislative session for the University of Hawaii Sea Grant program to study and find other options for homeowners from Ke Iki to Sunset while also helping to protect the public trust. "The management plan will be focused largely on how we manage the sand, and what can we do to stabilize the beach, better manage the beach, things like dune restoration," explained Dolan Eversole, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant’s Coastal Management Specialist and project lead. He said it will include community meetings as well. "It will look at these various parts of the beach and if this particular stretch gets hit by particular swell, then this particular house gains sand, so we have to be thoughtful of each particular home and land and what it means to be resilient in the future,"' said environmental activist Denise Antolini who lives on North Shore. Eversole said it will also look at short and mid-term solutions for homeowners, while also protecting public beaches. Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here "But, in the longer term, 50 year plus, it's looking a lot like if we desire a beach on the North Shore, we're going to have to get out of the way," he said. "We're going to have to give accommodation space for that beach to naturally migrate landward."Hawaii Sea Grant will have until December 2025 to develop recommendations to the state.