LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Planning Commission’s Subdivision Committee on Tuesday set up a new date, Oct. 23, to decide on whether to recommend a multi-year extension on subdivision permits for a large piece of prime agricultural land across Kealia Beach,
LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i Planning Commission’s Subdivision Committee on Tuesday set up a new date, Oct. 23, to decide on whether to recommend a multi-year extension on subdivision permits for a large piece of prime agricultural land across Kealia Beach, in the north end of Kapa‘a.
A favorable decision for Kealia Properties LLC would potentially translate to tens of millions of dollars for the developers due to exempting them from certain existing and future laws.
Kealia Properties LLC is asking the committee for an unprecedented 8-year extension on ag-subdivision permits for two lots totaling 2,029 acres fronting Kealia Beach. The current permits, supposed to have expired Sept. 11, allow the division of the land into 76 lots, which can be further sliced into 188 Condominium Property Regime lots, each with a farm-dwelling on it.
The original permits were granted Sept. 11, 2007. Since then the law has changed, but Kealia Properties’ permits have been grandfathered, meaning the developers only have to comply with the law which was current when they received the permits. If the applicant has to reapply, he would lose the grandfathering status, and eventually be allowed a reduced density of 115 CPR units. Kealia Properties also would have to comply with the current affordable-housing law, which would prompt an additional requirement to build 56 affordable units.
During the previous committee meeting, on Sept. 11, approximately 60 people crowded the meeting room at Mo‘ikeha Building in Lihu‘e. The majority of the testimony showed support for the developers, mainly because the developers had reached out to the community and offered up to $1.35 million in area improvements before any infrastructure for the project is laid out.
After going through nearly six hours of discussion and public testimony on Sept. 11, the three-member committee deferred decision to Tuesday.
But on Tuesday, Planning Director Michael Dahilig said representatives from Kealia Properties requested additional time to “flush out details.”
Committee member Hartwell Blake said he would agree with it, but wasn’t willing to go any further than the new date, to which Dahilig responded he does not anticipate any more delays.
Blake requested from Deputy County Attorney Ian Jung a memorandum of items that by law cannot be negotiated.
“I just want to make sure we don’t get to discussion or arguments about what are the necessary things,” Blake said.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
