Coco Palms hearing ends with issues to be settled

LIHU’E — The Planning Commission Thursday closed public comment on renovation

of the Coco Palms Resort leaving a number of issues to be resolved.

Among

them are the historic significance of fishponds on the site, which developers

plan to alter, and Hawaiian burials that are known to be entombed on the

property.

During public testimony, Cheryl Lovell-Obatake, chair of the

Kaua’i and Ni’ihau Island Burial Council, re-entered into public record

portions of a letter from Don Hibbard, state Historic Preservation Division

administrator.

Hibbard expressed concerns about fishponds on the site that

were awarded to Queen Deborah Kapule in the late 1800s.

Hibbard said

preservation of the existing ponds might require mitigating action if the ponds

are found to be in their original state.

Avery Youn, consultant for

developer James R. Reed of Lincoln Consulting Group, said the ponds’ boundaries

have been altered and modified over the years.

Renovation plans call for

raising the ground-floor levels of the resort buildings to a point above sea

level. Fishponds may be raised as well.

Kane Pa, who said he’s not against

the project, which will convert the old hotel into timeshare units, expressed

concerns about Na Kanaka Maoli remains buried under the existing hotel. He said

it’s not right to tear down the existing hotel and build new buildings on top

of those remains.

Youn acknowledged that human remains are known to be

entombed beneath one tennis court and a building which includes the

kitchen.

He said he thinks more bones will be uncovered when demolition of

an underground parking garage is done.

George Costa, a former Coco Palms

employee, said he’s in favor of rebuilding the resort if it’s done

right.

“I just want to see the right thing done there,” he said, offering a

short list in explanation: Hire local, learn the culture, share the

culture.

Costa is currently director of Neighbor Island operations for Marc

Resorts (Pono Kai, Embassy, various Princeville projects).

Puanani Rogers

asked for the commission to defer action on all three resort proposals before

it (Coco Palms, Waiohai and a new Kapalawai resort on Robinson family land near

the Russian Fort), so that more discussion can take place.

“We feel that it

is not wise, nor fair to our island and our island’s community to rush into

such grave and important matters that will affect us physically, morally and

spiritually,” she said. “Is it a life-or-death situation that forces you to

have to make a decision now? Will we be causing more dissension among ourselves

if we decide today, or will we be promoting harmony and aloha if we decide to

defer these permits?” Rogers asked the commissioners.

She advocated “smart

and slow growth,” and asked for a forum outside the Lihu’e Civic Center meeting

room where all could sit at the same table and speak on the issues as

equals.

Rogers also asked that the General Plan Update process be allowed

to finish first before moving forward on any of the hotel proposals before the

commission.

“We’re in no rush to do this deal,” and not in a position to

make an informed decision on Coco Palms, argued Ken Stokes.

There was a

time not long ago when people felt the urgency to re-open the Coco Palms.

“We’re no longer in a rush to get Coco Palms open,” Stokes said.

Lots of

other properties have come on-line since the Coco Palms and other properties

were ravaged by Hurricane ‘Iniki, and there are still some “major, major”

cultural issues involving both the Coco Palms and alignment of the proposed

Kapa’a bypass plan, he continued.

If “robust planning” had been or was

taking place, then the “major pedestrian access issue” between the hotel and

Wailua Beach would have been addressed already instead of still being an issue,

Stokes said.

Stokes further hopes the developer won’t alone be made to bear

all the costs of either a tunnel under or a bridge over Kuhio Highway. He also

hopes the new Coco Palms will be the community place the former resort

was.

He finally called for a meeting of the minds on how the community does

deals with developers. The Coco Palms approvals should come with a developer’s

“substantial contribution to the highway solution.”

Youn, commenting on the

sewage issue, said sewage overflows on the property go into the lagoons, and

into the basement of the hotel.

During the demolition phase of the work at

Coco Palms, some 50 percent of materials (dirt, rocks, concrete, grass,

greenwaste, plants, etc.) will remain on the property to be used as fill or, in

the case of live plants, moved to another part of the resort.

Debris will

be separated, and as much diverted from the landfill as possible. The same is

true with packaging materials (cardboard, etc.) of new equipment and supplies

brought to the site.

An oral history and pictorial history of the hotel and

property will be done, and the developer is looking at roughly $500,000 to go

to the county for park dedication and environmental impact fees, Youn

said.

The project will bring jobs, revenues and tax income to the island,

he added.