Grove Farm Co.’s zoning amendments for Puhi and Lihu’e and a proposal by the First Assembly of God King’s Cathedral for church in Hanama’ulu will be key topics to be discussed by Kaua’i County Council committees this morning. At the
Grove Farm Co.’s zoning amendments for Puhi and Lihu’e and a proposal by the First Assembly of God King’s Cathedral for church in Hanama’ulu will be key topics to be discussed by Kaua’i County Council committees this morning.
At the 9 a.m. meeting at the Historic County Building, the Planning Committee will take a second look at Grove Farm’s request to reconfigure and expand the Puakea Golf Course by the Kukui Grove Shopping Center.
The reconfiguration will result in the development of 104 fewer residential units, mostly multifamily, to accommodate the golf course changes.
The change, if approved, will mean homes will not be built beyond the Pu’ali Stream, avoiding environmental issues and delaying the work.
Grove Farm also is proposing commercial use of 12 acres by Nawiliwili Road, on which a one-time plantation manager’s home sits. A Grove Farm official said it could be used either as a golf course clubhouse or a bed-and-breakfast operation.
Grove Farm also wants to extend and reroute Nohou Street so that it ends up on Nawiliwili Road and closer to the shopping center.
The Council, however, wants Grove Farm to pave over an existing cane haul road behind Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi and connect it to Nohou Road. This work would help traffic on Kaumuali’i Highway and Nawiliwili Road, the Council said.
Grove Farm said the planned developments of the company can move forward now that Steve Case of AOL-Time Warner is owner of Grove Farm and Lihue Land Company and can provide sustained funding.
The Planning Committee also will consider deleting a zoning condition that would allow First Assembly to develop a multi-purpose building and other structures on 14 acres mauka of Kuhio Highway in Hanama’ulu town.
Also planned are a school, a sanctuary, recreational facility and a park for youths.
When the Council rezoned the property from agricultural to industrial use in 1989, lawmakers stipulated the property would revert back to its previous zoning, if sold.
The condition was inserted in the zoning ordinance because of public concerns that the land would be sold and used as a resort property.
There was no public opposition to the church proposal at a Council-sponsored public hearing last week.
In a matter before Council Committee of the Whole, Mandalay Properties Hawaii LLC is seeking Council approval to buy 3 acres of government land on Papa’a Road that runs from Aliomanu Estates Road to another property in Papa’a Bay that Mandalay owns.
County Engineer Cesar Portugal, in a letter to Council Chairman Ron Kouchi, said the Kusaka administration doesn’t object selling the land because it services only the Mandalay properties.
Kaua’i attorney Max Graham, representing Mandalay, said in a letter to Portugal the land is under dispute between the state and Kaua’i County, with neither claming ownership.
In similar situations in the past, such problems have been resolved by having the state quitclaim to the county any interest it may have in a disputed property, Graham said.
This action would result in transferring the title by quitclaim deed to the purchaser, in this case, Mandalay, Graham said.
Graham said he would be willing to contact the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to arrange for the transfer.
