Fight or flight?
The TGI headline announcing the Coco Palms hotel development makes me want to fight. I join with those trying to stop the certain degradation of eastside residential living by off-island Coco Palms property investors.
Why did the planning commission even hold hearings in January, soliciting our testimonies, if there was no legal recourse to the building of a 350-room hotel in the most congested part of our beautiful island? I was one of the people who submitted testimony, which included:
“We are adamantly opposed to building another hotel on the old Coco Palms site given the changes in the years that have affected our eroding coastline and our quality of life due to traffic congestion, which will surely worsen with the addition of a large hotel in this busy corridor. I am more interested in preserving the cultural value of this sacred site and offering our community a place to learn and spread aloha. Additionally, I would support a conscious elder care center on this property, which would not impact traffic and serve an important community need.”
If fighting doesn’t work, then I suppose I have the option of flight. I do not think I can tolerate even more dreadful traffic near my home. Already I feel like a prisoner during much of the day, literally unable to travel in one direction or another on the highway.
Does the developer really think an airport shuttle is going to help?! What do the tourists do after getting to the hotel? Carpool?! What a joke! (Perhaps the developer’s reference to carpooling in the TGI article was not referring to tourists, but rather to the hotel’s employees. Then I must ask: Where does the developer think those employees are going to find housing they can afford?)
Are any other kama‘aina broken-hearted by considering the thought of leaving our eastside homes as a last resort? Ah, yes, the last resort: Coco Palms.
At the height of my frustration, I ponder, “Which of our politicians needs to refocus on serving their citizens before serving the mighty dollar of off-island developers?”
Marian Head, Eastside Kaua‘i
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Ms Head,. “A prisoner much of the day”. You hit the nail on head as that is exactly how I feel when considering the crawl when making a Kapaa run for groceries etc.
How 8n the world is it right that Kaua’i will sit in traffic so that some suits in Utah can put a couple of their kids through college.
This is not right and I want to know when the sign making hui gets together to protest one more example of exploited Hawaii.
REMEMBER THE SUPER FERRY!
It’s really hard to believe our Council is letting this project go forward despite overwhelming community opposition. At the next election cycle, remember who voted to let this Utah developer proceed. Vote for slow or no-growth candidates and send a message to these politicians who want Kauai to become like Honolulu. Keep Kauai rural.
Besides all the factors that have been repeated again and again in opposition to rebuilding Coco Palms hotel, other problems will certainly arise to impact the Garden Island. Anytime a hotel is built, many satellite business will pop up around that hotel that will further exacerbate the traffic and housing problem. What about the all the waste during the construction of the hotel. Then we have all the waste for decades to come when that hotel, including the satellite businesses, open up for business. We already have an ongoing issue of looking for another land fill. Just look the mountain of waste when traveling to Polihale. Add human waste to this horror show. How about a bypass? Good luck with that! Our elected officials have always been too eager to appease the big money developers and turning a blind eye to the consequences of unrestricted development. “Damn the torpedos (oppositions), full speed ahead”!
Just another whiner placing the blame for traffic on property owners for functions which are clearly state and county responsibilities. It is the governments’ responsibility to construct & maintain roadways and manage traffic. It is the state of Hawaii and county of Kauai that have clearly demonstrated incompetence in carrying out their most fundamental obligations. They have failed to even properly maintain the streets and roads we have…pothole anyone?
They’ve known that traffic would at some point become a major problem for at least 50 years.
RSW
Thank you for writing in Marian – while I have no intention of letting this potential development run me out of my home here in Wailua – I do think shuttles are always a good idea and should be utilized by all resorts not just from the airport and to and from other destinations.
I also agree that whatever may be built there should have some homage to the cultural history that went before it and would hopefully be on a smaller scale than the previous resort.
I hate to say that in lieu of anything else as much as I detest hurricanes, having lived through Iwa and Iniki perhaps it’s time for Mother Nature to intervene…
P. Blakely Wailua
What? Open another hotel that brings jobs and business opportunities so our people don’t have to leave the state for employment? What are they thinking?