LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County Planning Commission members on Tuesday kept open a public hearing on a request by leaders of an O‘ahu company to build the newest hotel or resort accommodations in West Kaua‘i. Nalu Investments, LLC officials want to
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County Planning Commission members on Tuesday kept open a public hearing on a request by leaders of an O‘ahu company to build the newest hotel or resort accommodations in West Kaua‘i.
Nalu Investments, LLC officials want to build a two-story, six-room hotel in Waimea, to provide short-term rentals for military personnel at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, and for base visitors.
The other existing hotel accommodation complex on the Westside is Waimea Plantation Cottages.
Commission members, who at the Lihu‘e Civic Center conducted a public hearing on the request for permits necessary to construct the hotel, opted to keep the public hearing open in order to allow Nalu leaders to apply for a variance with state Department of Health officials to build a septic tank to service the proposed project.
Nalu leaders are going that route because the county’s wastewater system in Waimea is at capacity, according to county officials.
But increasing the capacity within the system won’t happen for another five years, a county Planning Department official told the commission.
In the meantime, Nalu representative, Ron Agor, a Kaua‘i architect, said the developer will use the septic tank until the wastewater system can accommodate the proposed hotel project.
West Kaua‘i businessman Bruce Pleas said most of the buildings that line Kaumuali‘i Highway historically housed businesses, and that he would like to see that tradition carried on.
Pleas recommended parts of the 6,000-square-foot project site become home to a business and a smaller hotel.
Agor said that type of proposal probably won’t work because other store owners in Waimea don’t want the added competition.
Nalu leaders would rather build a project that will draw citizens who will patronize other Waimea stores, they said.
Nalu Investments, LLC leaders are seeking a variance permit and a Class IV zoning permit so they exceed a 50-percent lot coverage for a hotel.
The project calls for the construction of the hotel, a lobby, an office, paved parking stall that meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, and seven unpaved parking stalls. The combined structures would cover about 63 percent of the 6,052-square-foot lot.
Nalu leaders don’t want to pave the seven parking stalls to stay as close to the lot-coverage requirement as possible, Agor said.
The property contains structures that were built without permits, according to a county Planning Department report.
A paved driveway was put on the property and an adjoining property, and a two-foot-high retaining wall was built along two parts of the Nalu property without proper government permits, the report noted.
Planning Department officials say, however, that the violations can be cleared up through the issuance of after-the-fact permits.
Commission members could consider the overall project as long the developer meets the criteria for the lot-variance request and other development standards for hotels, the report noted.
After the wastewater issue is resolved, commissioners most likely would close the public hearing, paving the way for a decision on the permit request.
- Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
