The Kaua‘i Planning Department plans to send notices to two landowners not to build in an open zone fronting their properties in Wainiha following a Hawai‘i Supreme Court decision affecting one of them. Notices of compliance will be sent to
The Kaua‘i Planning Department plans to send notices to two landowners not to build in an open zone fronting their properties in Wainiha following a Hawai‘i Supreme Court decision affecting one of them.
Notices of compliance will be sent to Joseph Brescia and Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers, in the wake of a July 12 court ruling favoring a North Shore group and a shoreline protection advocate in a lawsuit to stop Brescia from building closer to the shoreline than the county allowed.
If Brescia and Kiedis choose to ignore the notices, the county will rescind Brescia’s building permit and not consider one for Kiedis.
In both cases, the county is adamant about not allowing homes within open zones established through the Special Management Area Use permits for coastline projects. The zones protect views and assure beach access.
The proposed Planning Department action to send the notices came after the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission on Tuesday received for the record a request from Kaua‘i attorney Harold Bronstein to amend a commission decision in February allowing Brescia to build a smaller home 40 feet from a state certified shoreline.
Bronstein said the commission must take the corrective action in light of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruling.
The commission also received for the record a request from Bronstein to amend a commission action in June on the design of the home proposed by Kiedis and his proposal to put the home 41 feet from the state certified shoreline.
Kaua‘i attorney Walton Hong said his client, Brescia, has a building permit that entitles him to continue construction if he desires.
But Brescia has suspended construction due to the discovery of ancient remains on his property.
“Mr. Brescia, upon learning of the Supreme Court decision, stopped all work on his property, not withstanding he was issued a building permit,” Hong said yesterday. “Work will remain stopped until the matter can be resolved.”
The properties owned by Brescia and Kiedis are each about 18,000 square feet and are part of the Wainiha II subdivision.
When the subdivision was created in the early 1980s, a planning commission at the time went along with the wishes of the community to create a buffer zone varying between 40 to 75 feet in front of the subdivision.
While the buffer zone was referenced in a Special Management Area Use permit for the subdivision, the zone was not officially recognized in final county maps for the Wainiha II subdivision, which now consists of 15 lots, including the two owned by Brescia and Kiedis.
In 2002, Brescia sought commission approval to amend permits to build within the open zone — about 31 feet from a state certified shoreline.
Brescia argued he should be able to build closer to the shoreline because an overlay of burdensome county restrictions left him with less than 50 percent buildable area.
Partly based on a county setback of 61 to 71 feet for his property, the Planning Commission denied Brescia’s request.
Brescia appealed that decision to the 5th Circuit Court, which agreed with Brescia’s argument for building in the open zoning.
North Shore ‘Ohana, Bronstein and Caren Diamond filed an appeal that led to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court decision.
