PO‘IPU — Local nonprofits are suing Kaua‘i County and a mainland property developer, escalating controversy surrounding a planned condominium complex on the island’s South Shore.
Meridian Pacific, a firm with offices in Hawai‘i and California, proposes to construct 280 units on a 25-acre parcel adjacent to the Kiahuna Golf Course in Koloa.
Opponents object to the project’s proximity to Native Hawaiian burial sites and likely habitat of federally endangered species, including the pe‘e pe‘e maka‘ole (Kaua‘i cave wolf spider, Adelocosa anops) and the ‘uku noho ana (Kaua‘i cave amphipod, Spelaeorchestia koloana).
Both creatures are endemic to the Koloa area, and found nowhere else on Earth.
Now, plaintiffs Save Koloa and Friends of Maha‘ulepu have sued, claiming the county issued a grading permit to Meridian Pacific without a required biological study.
“The county failed to incorporate the protective measures recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the developer’s own draft biological survey report,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Peter Morimoto, told The Garden Island.
“They just issued a mass grading permit without any conditions and basically allowed the developer to grade and grub up the property,” Morimoto, a former deputy county attorney for Kaua‘i, continued.
The complaint focuses on an alleged violation of the Hawai‘i Constitution, which establishes certain environmental rights.
“This lawsuit makes it clear that citizens have the right to all protections detailed in Article XI, Section 9, especially those focused on the conservation, protection and enhancement of natural resources,” Friends of Maha‘ulepu founder and retired attorney Bridget Hammerquist said in a Wednesday press release.
Save Koloa founder Elizabeth Okinaka first identified heavy machinery on the Meridian Pacific property in December 2020.
She believes subsequently observed drilling and grading activity threatens to eliminate the world’s only wild pe‘e pe‘e maka‘ole and ‘uku noho ana populations for good.
“If these caves are collapsed, the endangered species could become extinct. And there is no coming back from extinct,” Okinaka said alongside Hammerquist.
“Importantly, the land is also recognized as a cultural site for Native Hawaiians, whose iwi kupuna (ancestors’ bones) are buried there.”
Judge Kathleen Watanabe will preside over the civil lawsuit filed in Fifth Circuit Court.
Save Koloa and Friends of Maha‘ulepu are seeking injunctive relief, effectively requesting work be halted at the Meridian Pacific site until biological studies certify the absence of endangered species’ habitats.
The plaintiffs also want the county to determine cultural, historical or natural resources within the area, and protect Native Hawaiian rights if applicable.
Meridian Pacific representatives did not respond to The Garden Island’s request for comment by press time.
“The county takes seriously our role in complying with all state and federal permit laws, particularly as it relates to the preservation of endangered species, and we will appropriately respond to any allegation of non-compliance,” Sarah Blane, Mayor Derek Kawakami’s chief of staff, told The Garden Island in an email.
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
