In a 6-0 vote yesterday, the Kaua‘i Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council recommended that the Department of Land and Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division reject the revised burial treatment plan proposed by landowner Joseph Brescia for his planned house at Ha‘ena’s
In a 6-0 vote yesterday, the Kaua‘i Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council recommended that the Department of Land and Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division reject the revised burial treatment plan proposed by landowner Joseph Brescia for his planned house at Ha‘ena’s Naue Point, according to a written statement from Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation attorney Alan Murakami.
The plan, amended in light of 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe’s Sept. 15 decree that SHPD had erred in not properly consulting the council before approving the initial burial treatment plan, would have allowed Brescia to continue construction of his one-family home on the site of some 30 confirmed graves, or iwi.
Though the council later declined to vote to formally transmit its decision to the Kaua‘i Planning Commission, the decision could possibly lead to a revocation of the building permit.
Conditions for the approval of construction included a requirement that SHPD and the Burial Council be satisfied before a permit could be issued.
“This decision makes it clear that Brescia has failed to comply with the Kaua‘i Planning Commission’s Condition No. 5, giving it a basis to revoke the building permit issued by the county,” Murakami said in an e-mail. “Supporters of the iwi kupuna at Naue can now demand that the KPC act on enforcing its own condition for approval.”
Planning Commission chair Steven Weinstein said yesterday the commission tries to rely on various agencies in their authority, and declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
He explained that in the event of a condition for approval not being met, the commission would generally direct the Planning Department to conduct an investigation. Even a violation would not guarantee revocation, as other mitigation measures can be considered.
The Planning Commission’s next meeting will be held Wednesday morning in the Mo‘ikeha Building. Weinstein said forms required for a member of the public to report a permit violation could be obtained at the Planning Department.
Not in attendance at yesterday’s council meeting was former chair Mark Hubbard. When reached at his home, Hubbard said that he had resigned from the council after the Oct. 3 meeting because “life’s too short to put up with some of the things we put up with at the burial council.”
“I was willing to run the meetings, but it’s not good to have a haole as the chair. You need to have a Hawaiian, a kupuna, to command some respect,” Hubbard said. “People were looking at council with disrespect just because I was the chair.”
