LIHU’E — The Kaua`i County Council voted unanimously Wednesday to amend the county code so that the 250-unit Makaweli resort on Gay & Robinson property can be built on what has been West Side agricultural land for the last 100
LIHU’E — The Kaua`i County Council voted unanimously Wednesday to amend the
county code so that the 250-unit Makaweli resort on Gay & Robinson property
can be built on what has been West Side agricultural land for the last 100
years.
The rezoning begins a two-year process that most likely will result
in a Destination Villages resort.
Before passage, the council listened to
five citizens, all of whom were opposed to the project for different
reasons.
Cheryl Lovell-Obatake, a persistent critic of the plan, along with
Bruce Pleas said the project’s environmental impact statement was
incomplete.
“I am here caring for the land, water and culture,’ she
said.
“All we’re trying to figure out is should this (particular) place be
a resort,” Pleas said. “Have we not learned anything about hurricanes? Are we
putting another resort in an area of destruction?
“Visitors come to see
Hawai`i. This area is so unique. We’re setting a precedent … opening up every
other coastal area (on the West Side.”
Joseph P. Manini Sr. told the
council that he is a Kanaka maoli and that he holds title to the land where the
project is planned. Manini also told a reporter before the meeting began that
he had just returned from Oahu, where he had registered his parcel in probate
court.
“If you folks want to give my land away,” Manini told the council,
“then be careful because we’ll end up in a class-action lawsuit. I don’t know
what the council is going to do, but they better knock heavy with the Robinson
attorneys” first.
Instead, the council voted 7-0 to approve the proposed
resort.
“I am in support of the project. Local people will be included in
the project’s management,” Councilman James Tokioka said.
“One of the main
reasons the Robinsons are doing this project is so they can keep (some)
agriculture on the West Side, said Councilman Bryan Baptiste.
Councilman
Gary Hooser, an emphatic critic of the Kukioi`ula development in Po`ipu last
year, also cast his vote for Makaweli.
“This is a low-density project,
focusing on ecotourism, and they are prepared to build right away,” Hooser
said.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252)
and dwilken@pulitzer.net
