Pleasing both sides of a legal dispute, the state Intermediate Court of Appeals has ruled that beach land that has risen naturally above the high-water mark belongs to the state. Oceanfront homeowners still may claim possession of beach areas formed long ago as the ruling is appealed to the state Supreme Court, but the essence of the decision keeps intact present beaches for the public.

In the ruling last week, the appeals court upheld a 2003 state law that keeps property rights of newly formed beach areas with the state. While high-water marks fluctuate, some homeowners are alleged to have intentionally expanded their properties beyond their initial boundaries.

The judges cited various previous court rulings, including a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision more than a century ago that turned away homeowners' “;vested right”; claims to beach land before it “;actually exists.”; Such claims, the Hawaii judges ruled, are “;purely speculative,”; politely neglecting instances of purposeful expansion.

The lawsuit was filed in 2005 by three groups of homeowners in the Portlock area on behalf of all oceanfront private property owners in the state. Republican state Rep. Cynthia Thielen, who represents Kailua and Kaneohe Bay, said homeowners at Kailua Beach have been “;taking away beach area from the public. Not many, but there were enough to make us concerned.”;

The state maintained that the 2003 statute and a 1985 law together should keep homeowners from laying claim to any land adjacent to the beach and above the high-water mark over a long period. It claimed that a provision of the 1985 law allowing a homeowner to claim land that has existed above the high-water mark for 20 years had been voided by the 2003 law because less than two decades had passed.

Circuit Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo ruled in 2006 that the homeowners could claim possession of present and new beach land next to their property as it occurs above the high-water mark. The three-judge panel was right in rejecting that assertion, finding that a homeowner can claim possession to the new land only when it is more likely than not that the new land had been in place above the high-water mark for at least 20 years prior to 2003, when the new law took effect.

Under the ruling, landowners who can prove they had beach-front property taken away by the state can claim compensation from the state in individual lawsuits. More important, if affirmed by the Supreme Court, the ruling should halt the loss of precious public beach areas to private homeowners.