LIHU‘E — Two weeks after setting a hearing date to review the plans for Joseph Brescia’s controversial single-family home in Wainiha, the Kaua‘i Planning Commission on Tuesday started the process for a similar application made by a Naue neighbor. However,
LIHU‘E — Two weeks after setting a hearing date to review the plans for Joseph Brescia’s controversial single-family home in Wainiha, the Kaua‘i Planning Commission on Tuesday started the process for a similar application made by a Naue neighbor.
However, this time, the commission granted only preliminary approval to a building, location, material and design plan for landowner Craig Dobbin and will require him to return — after satisfying all of the permit’s conditions, including measures in place to mitigate potential burial issues — before considering final approval.
“We learn as we go,” said self-described lineal descendant Andrew Cabebe, a cultural practitioner who was arrested on suspicion of trespassing on Brescia’s property in protest of the planned development there. “We don’t want to see that happen again. … Don’t let it happen again.”
Attorney Walton Hong, who represents both Dobbin and Brescia, said an archaeological inventory survey ha already been conducted by Scientific Consultant Services. He said 13 test diggings were conducted where the proposed foundation would be, as well as potential locations for the septic system and leach field.
While no burials were uncovered, four sites “merited mention,” Hong said. Three of those were so-called “post holes” that looked like there had been previous groundwork, while one test digging uncovered a “cultural strata.”
Later Tuesday, Hong explained that the cultural layer had a depth of 50 centimeters (less than two feet) and included food remains, charcoal-infused sand, remnants of native tree snails and marine shells — evidence that somebody lived there, but not human remains.
Radiocarbon analysis showed that the buried cultural layer dates back between 500 and 600 years and is significant but not enough to warrant special conservation status. SCS recommended that full-time monitoring continue for the site.
Should any iwi be uncovered at any point during studies or construction, the state Historic Preservation Division would be notified and the Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council would be consulted. Conditions of the preliminary approval, recommended by the Planning Department and adopted by the Planning Commission, require compliance with those agencies prior to full-scale construction can commence.
“We understand the rationale behind it, we can appreciate what the planning department is trying to do,” Hong said, adding that his hope at this stage is that the new process does not “unreasonably impede” Dobbin from proceeding in a timely manner.
The lot is less than a half-acre in size and located on Alealea Road in Wainiha, just a few lots down from Brescia’s property according to documents on file with the Kaua‘i Planning Department. Dobbin’s proposed home would encompass nearly 3,400 square feet under its roof and another 500-plus square feet in lanai space.
Dobbins, a Newfoundland, Canada, resident who was on Kaua‘i for just a few days to attend the Planning Commission meeting, said he hoped to move the island with his wife after visiting for the first time two decades ago.
Trees and plants
In addition to the burial concerns, also at issue is Dobbin’s landscaping plan and the proximity of plantings to the shoreline.
The plan currently calls for 15 coconut palms, 43 areka palms, two banana plants, 34 ti plants, three seco palms, 10 hala trees and naupaka, Planning Department documents state.
University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant Coastal Geologist Jim O’Connell said the shoreline in the area is eroding at the rate of roughly one foot per year, and warned that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ certified shoreline process is “an art as much as it is a science” because it relies largely on a visible line of debris and is currently only designed to measure the highest wash of the waves in the year it is requested.
Coastal advocate Caren Diamond said a group called North Shore ‘Ohana is currently appealing Dobbins’ certified shoreline, and warned that a heavily armoring a sand dune with vegetation — she called the naupaka there a “vegetative seawall” — could be used to privatize a beach and cut off public access.
“When you plant things too close to the ocean, the ocean takes them out and it creates hazards and danger for the public,” she said.
Hong said he was “amazed” by Diamond’s remarks and said there has been no intentional irrigation or fertilization of the beachfront sandy area.
He said he got the message “loud and clear” that the commission expects Dobbins to resubmit a new landscape plan.
