LIHU‘E — A small number of residents spoke out at a public meeting Tuesday against a Florida company’s proposal to build a 366-unit resort/hotel project on a plateau at Princeville overlooking ‘Anini Beach Park. Speaking at a public hearing the
LIHU‘E — A small number of residents spoke out at a public meeting Tuesday against a Florida company’s proposal to build a 366-unit resort/hotel project on a plateau at Princeville overlooking ‘Anini Beach Park.
Speaking at a public hearing the Kaua‘i Planning Commission held at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, Mauna Kea Trask and Alistair J. Paterson said that if they had their way, Starwood Vacation Ownership Inc.’s project, proposed to be put on 20 acres overlooking ‘Anini Beach, should not fly.
Trask, a recent graduate of the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law, is the grandson of the late Arthur K. Trask, an attorney and patriarch of a politically active Native Hawaiian family, and the son of Arthur “Pepe” Trask Jr., also an attorney. Paterson is a real-estate professional.
They said the project would only benefit the developer, and would exacerbate traffic at the resort.
The developer, however, has funded ongoing traffic studies, and has vowed to find traffic solutions. At the same time, officials with the Princeville Development Corp. have funded traffic studies for the resort community.
But most of the 17 scheduled speakers at the hearing said they supported the project, and that if it moves forward, members of the Planning Commission should find traffic solutions through conditions attached to approval of permits necessary to move the project forward.
The commissioners also should scrutinize SVO’s request for a variance to build taller buildings partly as a way to create more open space. Trask and Paterson said the request should be denied outright, as the developer hasn’t proven the need for buildings taller than a 25-foot height limit.
The commission members voted to extend the public hearing until Tuesday, Oct. 12, to allow commission Chairman Theodore Daligdig III and Commissioners Sandi Kato-Klutke and Abigail Santos to study the proposal, and to join four other commissioners in deciding when to close the public hearing at a later date, and later vote on whether to approve or reject the proposal.
Daligdig, Kato-Klutke and Santos did not attend the meeting Tuesday.
The proposal by SVO Pacific Inc., a company based in Orlando, Fla., calls for the development of 366 resort condominium units, six hotel rooms, a clubhouse, swimming pools, a restaurant and large-scale parking area, and use of lush landscaping.
The developer is asking the commissioners to approve their request for a project development use permit and a Class IV zoning permit.
Paterson said the project would not benefit the community if it is approved. He also said he was opposed to SVO’s request to deviate from the county’s 25-foot height limit.
The developer is proposing building heights of 38 to 39 feet for the three-story buildings, a variance of 14 to 15 feet above the maximum 25-foot height limit as imposed by the North Shore Development Plan. The island’s height limit is 40 feet.
The developer also is proposing building heights of 28 to 29 feet for two-story buildings, amounting to a three-to-five-foot variance above the same maximum height limit. “It is audacious at best, ridiculous at worst, that they ask for the height variance,” Paterson said.
Height variance
Allowing the variance would motivate many other developers to make the same request, he said. The end result would lead to poor planning, Paterson indicated.
“Each foot of variance” would put a nail “in the coffin of Kaua‘i,” Paterson said.
Mauna Kea Trask said he would prefer the project not be built at all. The 20 acres on which the project would be built is zoned for resort use, is essentially open space, and overlooks ‘Anini Beach.
Both Trask and his father, Pepe Trask, opposed the variance request. Mauna Kea Trask quoted provisions of the county’s comprehensive zoning ordinance in opposing the variance request.
Mauna Kea Trask said the ordinance noted a variance may be granted only if it is found that because of special circumstances related to the size of the property, the topography and surrounding lands, regulations would deprive SVO leaders from “enjoying privileges” on their land enjoyed by owners of nearby properties.
The condition also notes the variance can be granted only if county regulations prevented SVO from making a “reasonable use” of the property, he said.
The developer plans to construct 188 units that if necessary can be opened up to 366 units.
Mauna Kea Trask contended the 188-unit project could generate up to $457 million a year if used for timeshare purposes. If the 388 units are used, the developer stands to conceivably make $914 million in a year.
Mauna Kea Trask and his father said it seemed to them that the developer, even if they were forced to construct buildings in line with the 25-foot height limit, could make money.
Kaua‘i attorney Michael Belles, representing SVO, said the developer is seeking the requested permits, and that request is not an official one seeking a height variance for the buildings.
Belles also said that if the commission approves the variance, the action would not be precedent-setting, noting that developers of other North Shore project have won waivers and have constructed buildings exceeding the 25-foot height limit.
Those include the Cliffs project, and the Hanalei Bay Villas, to name a few, Belles said.
In addressing Mauna Kea Trask, Commissioner Randy Nishimura noted that from his point of view, the variance was being requested so that the developer could build a project with taller buildings but with fewer buildings, thus allowing for more open space.
Some people also voiced concerns that the tops of the resort buildings might be seen from ‘Anini Beach, thus ruining the rural feel of the area.
But Honolulu architect Michael Muromoto, who also represented the developer, said a survey was done three years ago that showed that the tops of the buildings could hardly be seen from the beach. “It is not a problem,” he said.
He said Dee Crowell, then the planning director for the county, and county senior planner, Keith Nitta, took part in the survey, and that it was their opinion that the tops of the highest buildings, with the variance granted, would not be visually offensive.
Current Planning Director Ian Costa also has reached the same conclusions, Muromoto said.
Belles said he and representatives for the developer met with ‘Anini Beach residents to explain what the proposed development entails. He added that thick foliage from planned landscaping around the project would surely hide the bulk of the buildings.
The issue of the buildings possibly tainting views from ‘Anini Beach hardly came up during the meeting.
Traffic
On traffic, Richard Jacobsen, a 20-year resident of Princeville, said up to 500 vehicles from the resort could be using Wyllie Road to get to Ka Haku Road, the main thoroughfare through the Princeville resort community.
“My main concern is traffic. You can’t have stop signs at that intersection,” he said after the meeting.
Jacobsen said the additional traffic, coupled with that from upcoming development projects at the resort community, will worsen traffic flow in the area.
Muromoto said the developer is socially responsible, and that traffic solutions are forthcoming.
In a letter to the Planning Commission signed by Patti Serdar, president of the Puamana Association of Apartment Owners, Tommy Thompson, vice president of the group, voiced these key concerns:
- Noise at the parking structure planned for the project should be mitigated. The apartment project would be the closest development to SVO project;
- Wyllie Road should be curbed;
- The apartment complex is located downwind from a proposed garbage-treatment area. So the garbage from the SVO project should be disposed of in an enclosed area;
- Noise at a planned restaurant should be mitigated.
Support
Joining in support of the project were Stephanie Kaluahine Reid, the director of public relations at the Princeville Resort, which is managed by SVO; and Jean S. Camp, project manager for Unlimited Construction Services Inc.
Reid said Starwood Hawaii has been doing business in the Hawaiian islands for 45 years, and noted “our hotels include the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the Sheraton Moana Surfrider and the Westin Maui.”
Camp said SVO has built quality projects in Hawai‘i and has used either Hawai‘i-based or Kaua‘i-based talent to develop and build them.
Some of the top-quality projects SVO has been behind include the Ka‘anapali Ocean Resort on Maui and the Sheraton Kauai Resort in Po‘ipu, Camp said.
Kelly Hoen, general manager at the Princeville Resort, said she is proud to lead “one of the most beautiful resorts in the world.”
“I am proud to say that we are part of the 756 Starwood family of resorts and hotels worldwide,” she said. “Starwood has made a long-term commitment to the island of Kaua‘i in providing employment opportunities and economic benefit.”
Some employees at the Princeville Resort said they have led a better life because they had the opportunity to work at the North Shore hotel.
Support for the project also came from Gary Siracusa, a senior project manager also with Unlimited Construction Services.
Siracusa said his company is not involved with this particular SVO project, but noted he likes the SVO project because its density is less than what is zoned, and “is exemplary to date,” and that “my experience with SVO has been credible.”
The proposed SVO project plans include pool-side pavilions, a pool serving building, a utility yard and an entrance for a dead-end section of Wyllie Road, which is to be improved.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
