A Wailua couple has recommended the Seashell Restaurant on Wailua Bay be torn down to make way for a two-mile leg of a 23-mile-long, bicycle-and-pedestrian pathway Kaua‘i County officials have proposed from Nawiliwili Harbor to Anahola.
Doing so would open the way for development of the pathway along Papaloa Road in Wailua, instead of on a beach in front of a row of condominium projects lining the bay.
The option is being considered by county officials, said Sonja and Bernie King, residents at the Lae Nani condominiums.
The Wailua Bay View, Hale Awapuhi, and Lanikai, and Lae Nani condominiums are located along the picturesque bay.
The Kings said the long-shuttered Seashell Restaurant should be torn down to make way for the third phase because the structure has become rat-infested since it was damaged by Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992 and closed since then.
The Seashell Restaurant is part of the old Coco Palms Resort, which also was severely damaged by the winds of ‘Iniki and remains closed. The hotel is now up for sale.
The two-mile section of the bicycle-and-pedestrian pathway is proposed to run along the coast from Lydgate Park to Waika‘ea Canal on the south border of the Pono Kai Resort in Kapa‘a. The section is the third phase of the county’s proposed six-phase bicycle-and-pedestrian pathway project that would run north to Anahola, and south to Nawiliwili, eventually.
The Kings voiced their opinion in a letter sent to Kimura International, the Honolulu-based consultant conducting an environmental assessment of the route of the two-mile section.
Richard Weiser, a Princeville resident who is negotiating to buy the Coco Palms Resort, said he has been in touch with county officials to “discuss the right-a-way for the bicycle-pedestrian path in two different areas” by the restaurant.
“In no way does either option call for knocking down the restaurant,” Weiser said. “We believe it (the bike path) is very good idea, and we are supportive of it.”
Weiser said he is aware of the three options proposed for the pathway around the old restaurant, and supports the concept of the project.
“As far as we are concerned, we think it is a good idea, a great county amenity, and if we can work it out we will,” Weiser told The Garden Island.
The Kings voiced other reasons for not having a pedestrian-bicycle path put on the beach.
The couple said Papaloa Cove is home to endangered Hawaiian monk seals, and that as volunteers for a monk-seal program they have worked to help with the recovery of the species.
The Kings said they sometimes have had to block off “quite a bit of lawn that is on state land in order to be 150 feet away (a safety distance) from the seal.”
There are estimated 1,300 Hawaiian monk seals living in Hawaiian waters today.
The couple also said they can see “many problems with the path coming so close (to the condominiums by the beach) and the increased traffic with the bike path.”
The couple also contend erosion makes the county-owned beach area a questionable choice for the pathway.
The shoreline in front of the Lae Nani condominiums was severely damaged by the huge waves of late November last year, and “there is a lot of erosion,” the Kings wrote.
The couple also voiced concerns about heavy equipment being brought to the beach to create the pathway, and the impact of the project on surrounding areas.
The couple also said that should the pathway be put on the beach, “there will be no access for EMT (emergency medical technician) vehicles to reach any injured people on this portion of the bike path.”
The Kings said they wouldn’t object to placing the pathway on the beach if there were no other options. But, there are other options, they said.
Nancy Nishikawa, a senior planner with Kimura International, said three alignments are being considered.
One would run along the beach behind the condominium projects; a second would run along Papaloa Road; and a third would run northward along a canal behind the old Coco Palms Resort and the shopping centers in Wailua.
No route has been selected, as work on a draft environmental assessment for the two-mile, pedestrian-and-bicycle path is ongoing, Nishikawa.
She said the consultants and county officials welcome public comments in trying to determine the best route.
The Kings also said they also didn’t like the idea of the pathway going on a public right-of-way between their condominium project and the Kauai Sands Hotel.
Putting parts of the pathway there would mean having to cut down several ironwood trees, the Kings said.
“A lot of trees have to come down, ironwood and palms trees, to make way for this project,” Sonja King told The Garden Island.
A better option would be to have the pathway “connect to the shoreline by going between the Islander on Beach (hotel) and Kauai Sands (hotel),” the Kings said.
The King also wondered whether the proposed two-mile section would be in compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Nishikawa said it was her impression the proposed 23-mile bicycle-and-pedestrian pathway project has been generally accepted by the community.
A 2.3-mile trail at Lydgate Park has been completed, and progress is being made on another 4.3-mile section along the East Kaua‘i coastline.
The first two phases have moved more smoothly because they have been developed, or are planned to be developed in rural areas with few homes, Nishikawa said.
The proposed third phase has come under more public scrutiny because portions of the pathway would run by residences, Nishikawa said.
“We have received comments from different segments of the community, and some people like the idea of a coastal path, and others don’t,” Nishikawa said. “We have heard from all different sides.”
She said progress is being made on the proposed third phase. “I don’t see any reason for any slowdown in moving toward the objective of getting the environmental assessment for this segment,” she said.
“The process is doing what it should do, which is to make people aware the project is in the pipeline, to make people aware of various impacts from the project, and to resolve them.”
Nishikawa said once the draft environmental assessment for the proposed third leg of the 23-mile county project is published, a 30-day, public-comment period begins.
During that period, a third meeting on the third phase will be held on Kaua‘i, Nishikawa said.
Two earlier meetings on the third phase were conducted, in January and this month, at Kapa‘a Middle School.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
