LIHUE — The day after a large police force swept through the Coco Palms property to remove occupiers after a lengthy civil trial, all was quiet.
On Friday, a chicken wire fence was constructed at the western entrance to keep out trespassers.
There were no law enforcement officers present. There were no security guards. But some people had already returned.
Chuck Hanie, who had been living on the land for just over a year, and his daughter Mahealani Hanie-Grace, were present during the sweep and Mahealani Hanie-Grace was the only person arrested.
By Thursday evening, the Hanies had moved to an enclave, believed to be state land, across the river on the other side of the property adjacent to their hale.
Several others were with them.
Property claimant Noa Mau-Espirito said the Kanaka Maoli aren’t planning on going away.
“We only got ejected from a small portion of the land we’re occupying,” he said.
They’ll continue restoring the auwai, he said, the waterways and the wetlands.
“For me, nothing has changed. Everything they’re doing is an illusion to me and I have a choice whether or not to believe it,”
he said.
Meantime, the Coco Palms Hui plans to move ahead with its original plans to build a $175 million resort at the site.
Developer Chad Waters said they put up the fence and are planning on posting more security guards on the property soon.
“We’re ready to get this past us,” Waters said Friday of the legal dispute he and business partner Tyler Greene have been involved in over Wailua land they
purchased for $23 million.
Construction on Coco Palms, said Waters, could begin within four to five months. Once completed, the project will boast about 400 rooms, 12,000 square feet of retail space, three restaurants, leisure areas and a four-acre cultural center.
But the fight over the land may not be over. Mau-Espirito and Charles Hepa have filed an appeal on the ejectment with the State Supreme Court and a quiet title proceeding against Coco Palms Hui. Their criminal cases have been dropped, but according to Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar, they could still face charges.
The contested land is home of the iconic Coco Palms Resort, which was made famous in the Elvis Presley movie, “Blue Hawaii.” Presley, along with other Hollywood celebrities like Bing Crosby, often spent time at the resort before it was damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 and has since sat shuttered.
Waters and Greene’s intention has always been to bring Coco Palms back to life, but for over two years progress on the project was impeded by a group of Kanaka Maoli, who claimed ownership of the land through ancestry and a royal patent.
The two parties met in civil proceedings in District Court, with Judge Michael Soong ruling in favor of Coco Palms Hui LLC.
Defendants were given five days, until Jan. 28, to be off the property.
By the time the ejectment was scheduled to happen, a group of about 60 people gathered at the western entrance to the land, near where they had been living.
Nothing happened until Thursday, when a joint task force of members of the State Sheriff’s Division, Kauai Police Department, the law enforcement division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Attorney General’s office enforced the order.
