Commissioners find Coco Palms extension a tough nut to crack

LIHU‘E — The future of Coco Palms hung in limbo Tuesday when the county Planning Commission could not decide if it should allow developers more time to renovate the dilapidated area.

The once world-famous Wailua resort has remained in shambles since Hurricane Iniki rendered it uninhabitable in 1992.

Commissioner Caven Raco opposed a provisional six-month time extension saying its current owner, Coco Palms LLC, has failed to clean up the property as promised since purchasing it in 2005.

“I cannot hold onto the dream that he’s going to clean the place up now,” he said. “His initiative hasn’t been there for the last few years, why hold on for another six months?”

Phil Ross, one of three owners of the property, said he was unaware the lease agreement included maintaining the grove of more than 2,000 coconuts while the resort and its adjacent businesses were still in the planning and development phase.

“I have several leases and didn’t know it was a requirement until we applied for a building permit extension on our project,” he said.

In February, Coco Palms LLC applied for a three-year extension of its building plans on account of the poor economy. Since then he said he has had the groves mowed twice.

A number of residents felt the economy was no excuse.

“I realize that damage was done in Iniki,” said Gabriela Taylor of Kapa‘a. “But the damage done to that place by (the developer’s) neglect over the last three years has turned it into a disgrace and pathetic place to look at. They haven’t even done the bare minimum to keep the land in order and from the highway it looks like an internment camp with a fence around it.”

David Penhallow, who authored a book on the history of the hotel, called it a metaphor for decay.

Planning Commissioners shared the public’s discontent with the way the business venture has dragged its feet to beautify the area and fulfill a number of additional responsibilities over the last few years such as providing a public parking lot, designating the resort’s fishponds as an historic site, starting improvements on the bordering Kuhio Highway and reopening the historic coconut groves to the public.

Many of the residents opposed to a permit extension said they hope it will force Ross and his partners to sell the property.

Commissioner Hartwell Blake said there was no evidence this would happen.

“And I’m weary about denying (the extension) because right now there’s no other options on the table,” he said. “It’s like giving a child one more chance.”

Despite such misgivings, Blake, along with Commissioner Herman Texeira and Chair James Nishida voted to allow for the extension. The decision remained at a gridlock, however. A skeleton cabinet of four of the seven commissioners hindered a majority vote.

The item is expected to reappear at the next commission meeting in two weeks, before the company’s building permits expire May 23.

The outcome of a decision will hinge upon whether Ross and his partners show a commitment to the old permit conditions and accept the new ones, said Nishida.

At the meeting Ross nodded in agreement with most of the terms for a permit extension, but did not see eye-to-eye with the commission’s order to open up the coconut grove to the public.

“It’s too much of a liability,” he said. “To maintain the area would cost well over $200,000 a year and that’s a cost we can’t afford while we’re not making any revenue.”

Ross said he would be willing to turn over the lease to the state for the time being until the Coco Palms is back up in running order, but on Tuesday commissioners did not see this as a feasible option.

There have been two previous owners of the property since Iniki.