WAILUA – Much of the $60 million to be spent for timeshare conversion of the Coco Palms Resort will go for filling in areas of the parcel to meet federal flood requirements. That means elevating the new structures so their
WAILUA – Much of the $60 million to be spent for timeshare conversion of the
Coco Palms Resort will go for filling in areas of the parcel to meet federal
flood requirements.
That means elevating the new structures so their floors
will be a foot higher than Kuhio Highway.
The highway is 14 feet above sea
level, and federal 100-year flood requirements mandate ground-floor levels of
15 feet above sea level, according to architect Avery Youn, authorized agent
for developer Jim Reed of Lincoln Consulting Group, Limited Liability Company
in Newport Beach, Calif.
The company has applied to the county Planning
Department for four permits necessary to begin demolition of the
once-enchanting property.
The Planning Commission public hearing is
Thursday, Dec. 9, at 1:30 p.m. in the Lihu’e Civic Center.
The majority of
renovation costs will go to meet flood requirements, Youn said.
“We have to
elevate and fill five or six feet,” he explained. In the coconut grove area the
average height above mean sea level is between six and eight feet, requiring
seven to nine feet of fill for new structures to meet the federal
regulations.
“It may even call for raising the ponds, the lagoons,” he
said.
The new owners of the property had a genuine desire to preserve the
historic hotel, Youn said.
But the flood-zone requirements and the fact
that the existing structures don’t meet current county building, electrical and
mechanical codes meant restoration would have cost nearly twice the $60 million
budgeted for the new resort.
While the look of the buildings may change,
Youn is hopeful the character of the resort will live on.
Neither an
environmental impact statement (EIS) nor environmental assessment (EA) are
required on this project, as the parcels already have zoning attached to them
and there is no request for a zoning change, Youn explained.
When projects
in the Special Management Area have zoning already in place, the requirement
for an EIS or EA is at the discretion of the planning director.
Under the
county’s Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance rules, an EIS or EA is not required,
said Youn, a former county planning director.
Community concerns include
preserving the historical site as it was before the first hotel was built in
the middle of this century, and taking care of the human remains that are known
to exist on the six parcels that make up the former Coco Palms Resort and
Seashell Restaurant across the highway on Wailua Beach.
“There are burials
on the property,” said Youn, who working with the Kauai Historic Preservation
Review Commission and Niihau-Kauai burial council has developed a burial plan
in the event any new burials are discovered during the demolition or
construction phases of the project.
The property already has a reinternment
site for human remains found earlier on the property and Youn has met several
times with the historic review commission and burial council in efforts to have
all concerns related to treatment of human remains alleviated before the
Planning Commission hearing.
Included in the new resort will be a hula
halau hale in the coconut grove, which halau will be able to use free of charge
for their practices.
One of the cabanas used by Elvis Presley will be
relocated into the coconut grove, where the wedding chapel will remain. The
entrance to the new resort will be off of Kuamoo Road away from its
intersection with Kuhio Highway.
Youn said the company will save every
single coconut tree on the property, including uprooting and replanting all the
coconut trees located in between the buildings that will be demolished to make
way for the new construction.
The construction won’t begin for at least a
year, but the demolition can begin as soon as the county permits are secured,
Youn said.
Construction must wait on the finalizing of re-design plans, and
a large amount of site work that must be done before the construction can
commence.
Of the six parcels, with a total of 47.52 acres, three are leased
from the
state, including the coconut grove (leased through the year 2048)
and a
portion of the Seashell Restaurant.
The total resort qualifies
for 505 hotel rooms, but the current plans are
for 232 timeshare units and
20 luxury suite hotel rooms in 10 cabanas.
The 232 timeshare units will be
in eight buildings of three and four stories. The company proposes hotel uses
(including tennis courts and spa)in resort, residential and open zones.
A
use permit will allow the owners to renovate, upgrade and modify the Seashell
Restaurant building, which needs structural repairs, upgrading of equipment and
improvements to restroom, shower and locker room facilities.
