LIHU‘E — The Poipu Beach Hotel, which has remained closed since the devastation of Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992, will see life again. The Kaua‘i County Planning Commission on Tuesday approved permits for the reconstruction of the hotel. The approval, granted
LIHU‘E — The Poipu Beach Hotel, which has remained closed since the devastation of Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992, will see life again.
The Kaua‘i County Planning Commission on Tuesday approved permits for the reconstruction of the hotel. The approval, granted during a commission meeting held at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, opens the door for the repair and reopening of the last of the hotels along the Po‘ipu coastline that were damaged by the hurricane.
The Sheraton Kauai Resort, Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa and Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club (the old Waiohai Hotel) adjacent to the Poipu Beach Hotel are all in operation today. The Sheraton and Hyatt reopened only a few years after the hurricane struck.
CTF Hawaii Hotel Partners Limited Partnership, the Poipu Beach Hotel developer, now has the green light to begin repairs on the hotel which, when reopened, will be called The New Poipu Beach Hotel.
The new hotel will be bucking an emerging trend in the hotel-condominium industry in Hawai‘i. Many hotel owners operate hotels that boast hotel rooms and rooms used as timeshare units, or as residential condominium units.
CTF’s new hotel will be operated strictly as a hotel, according to a Kaua‘i County Planning Department report.
The hotel that existed at the time of the hurricane boasted 138 rooms with kitchenettes. The new plan calls for 121 rooms with no kitchenettes.
Plans also call for reconfiguration of an existing pool, pool-bar and spa-pool. The pre-‘Iniki hotel boasted a restaurant, bar, lobby and retail stores, and those amenities will be part of the new hotel when it reopens.
Various features of the hotel are to be retained, including the existing roof-lines, floral rails, lava-rock walls and amenities with ocean themes.
An existing porte cochere and a driveway will be reconfigured. In addition, plans call for improvement of an ocean pathway that runs in front of the hotel.
To allow for the best use of the project site, the developer had requested a project development use permit. Residents had raised concerns the project and existing and planned resort projects in Po‘ipu will serve to add to growing traffic congestion in South Kaua‘i.
Representatives for the developer have said that an existing 200-foot-long, left-turn-storage lane from Po‘ipu Road onto the hotel grounds should accommodate traffic from the hotel.
A project development use permit the developer had sought provides:
- For a deviation of the setback for the boundary of the project and a deviation from the setbacks among buildings, thus allowing structures to be put closer to one another;
- For the construction of 99 parking spaces, six more than was allowed under the county’s Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. The additional parking spaces are intended to accommodate more guests and patrons who shop at stores and eat at restaurants at the hotel.
Company leaders also had sought a variance permit:
- To establish setback variances that would allow new elevators to be constructed in existing buildings;
- To accommodate a new pool, spa, porte cochere, new parking areas, new driveway and pathways.
Among the conditions for the approval of the project, the developer was required to contribute toward the building of a bus stop, and to give hiring preference first to Kaua‘i builders, according to a planner with the Kaua‘i County Planning Department.
Also for the project, the developer had sought a Class IV Zoning permit, a project development use permit, a variance permit, and a Special Management Area Use permit. Representing the developer is the Kaua‘i law firm Belles Graham Proudfoot & Wilson.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
