Proposals to use a former Japanese Buddhist mission building in Hanalei as a bed-and-breakfast operation, to build YMCA buildings envisioned for 10 years and to operate the first commercial railroad on Kaua‘i since the mid-1950s top the Kaua‘i County Planning
Proposals to use a former Japanese Buddhist mission building in Hanalei as a bed-and-breakfast operation, to build YMCA buildings envisioned for 10 years and to operate the first commercial railroad on Kaua‘i since the mid-1950s top the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting agenda for Tuesday, March 9.
Meetings on the proposals are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m. at the Lihu‘e Civic Center.
The biggest project involves the proposal by Kauai Kilohana Partners to operate a 2.5-mile “excursion railway system” on the grounds of the Kilohana Plantation and on former cane lands.
The railway project would unfold on 103 acres mauka of Kaumuali‘i Highway in Puhi.
The leaders of Kauai Kilohana are seeking commission approval for a special permit, a use permit and a Class VI zoning permit.
If the permits are approved, the project will provide residents and visitors a glimpse of Kaua‘i’s past when the types of trains proposed for use in the railway system were used to haul cane from the fields to mills between the late-1800s to the mid-1950s.
The leaders of Kauai Kilohana have talked with business interests in the Philippine Islands to buy locomotives once used on O‘ahu.
The locomotives were sold and transported out of the state when sugar companies on O‘ahu shut down train systems in the 1940s and 1950s, and began using cane haul trucks because they were cheaper to operate, and allowed for flexibility in sugar cane operations.
Parts of the train proposal call for the creation of a train depot, an engine shop and a market for “historic crops” like sugar cane, bananas, papayas and guava and new crops that are in demand today as well. They include rambutan, cocoa and chermoya.
Historic buildings also would be used to house some of the planned improvements.
Across the street from the proposed train project, leaders with the YMCA of Kauai are seeking county permits to build a YMCA facility in phases on about 4 acres on mauka lands near the intersection of Kaumuali‘i Highway and Nuhou Road in Puhi.
YMCA leaders said the facility would allow the organization to enhance its services to the community.
In addition to the construction of recreational facilities, for which YMCA members would pay to use, a 50-meter, Olympic-size pool is planned.
The final proposal that could be up for action by the planning commission involves the formal use of what was the oldest Japanese Buddhist mission building on Kaua‘i as a bed-and-breakfast operation.
The building is located at the eastern edge of Hanalei town, and is owned by Yuichi and Kelley Sato.
Their request for permits marks the first tine in many years anyone has sought government approval for a bed-and-breakfast operation.
Six years ago, many people ran such operations without proper county permits.
Those people didn’t want to go through pubic hearings, and risk having the proposals rejected by the planning commission due to public protests.
The bed-and-breakfast operations are not vacation rentals, but longtime residents have said both bring in visitors that dramatically alter the neighborhood feel of communities.
In written testimonies sent to the county, some residents said commercial use of the former temple is appropriate because the property is surrounded by business.
Others said the project is needed to provide an alternative to vacation rentals and hotel rooms.
In other written testimony to the county, one resident voiced concerns that businesses have opened up outside the commercially-zoned uses of Hanalei town and that commercial uses have sprung up on the east end of town and have spread and expanded over the years.
The resident said it is not known whether the commercial uses and activities have county permits, and that the situation concerns her.
The building that the Satos want to formally use as a bed-and-breakfast operation was constructed in 1901, and was part of the Lihu‘e Hongwanji Mission in Kapaia.
The building was placed on State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1977 and 1978, respectively.
Although the building was used for temple-related social and recreational events for many year, it was slated for demolition in the mid-1980s, according to county documents.
Church leaders had decided this course of action was needed to make way for a new educational building on the grounds of the Lihu‘e Hongwanji Mission site, located makai of Kuhio Highway in Kapaia.
The building was subsequently relocated to Hanalei town and has been used as a home in recent years.
Out of respect for the history of the building, the Satos, for their project, said they have decorated the house in Japanese style, including using bamboo beds, Asian-style prints and kimonos.
For their proposed project, the Satos said their bed-and-breakfast operation would accommodate six guests, two in each of the three bedrooms in the two-story, four-bedroom and two-bath home.
The couple plans to live in one of the rooms.
