LIHU‘E — The design for the renovation of the Poipu Beach Hotel — damaged by Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992 and unoccupied since them — is outdated and needs reworking, Planning Commissioner Larry Chaffin Jr. said during a Kaua‘i County Planning
LIHU‘E — The design for the renovation of the Poipu Beach Hotel — damaged by Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992 and unoccupied since them — is outdated and needs reworking, Planning Commissioner Larry Chaffin Jr. said during a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday.
Following a public hearing held on the proposal at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, Chaffin contended the proposed redesign of the coastline hotel in Po‘ipu gets around current ordinances.
“They are not designing it for the 21st century,” Chaffin said. “Find something that fits the concerns that relate to flood plains and parking.” What CTF Hawaii Hotel Partners Limited Partnership, the lessee of the hotel on property owned by members of the Knudsen family, has put before the commission for approval is “not a new design of a program that is needed,” Chaffin said.
If repaired, the hotel will be the last of the hotels along the Po‘ipu coastline damaged by the hurricane to be reopened.
The Sheraton Kauai Resort, Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa and the adjacent Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club at Poipu (the old Waiohai Hotel) are all in operation today, with the Sheraton and Hyatt opening a few years after the hurricane struck.
Related to future work on the Poipu Beach Hotel, Chaffin, an architect by trade, suggested the design plan undergo major tinkering before the commission takes any action on the proposal. The design plan should move in step with the county requirements of today, said Chaffin, adding, “things were done differently than they were done 20 years ago,” and “we ought to use the technology of today.” Chaffin, an architect and planner with 30 years of experience in California, said if the task of designing the renovation work was left up to him, he would “come up with a program of what is needed and which fits the current ordinances (related to flood plains and parking).
Michael Belles, a partner in the Kaua‘i law firm of Belles Graham Proudfoot & Wilson, represents CTF, attended the meeting, and noted the comments, said county Planning Director Ian Costa.
Commission members closed the public hearing, and have within 60 days to make a decision on the proposal. The developer is seeking a Class IV Zoning permit, a project development use permit, a variance permit and a Special Management Area Use permit. According to county documents, leaders with the company want to repair five existing multi-story buildings and a courtyard. Plans for the new hotel, which is to be called The New Poipu Beach Hotel when it reopens, call for a reduction to 121 rooms with no kitchenettes, compared to the 138 rooms with kitchenettes that were offered to visitors before the hurricane. None of the new hotel rooms will be used as timeshare units or residential condominium units, the report said. An existing pool, pool-bar and spa-pool will be reconfigured as well, the report said. A restaurant, bar, lobby and retail stores were part of the old hotel, and plans call for these amenities to be included in the new hotel. The existing roof-lines, floral rails, lava-rock walls and amenities with ocean themes will be retained, they said. The porte cochere and a driveway will be reconfigured. An existing lateral access on the beach in front of the hotel also will be improved. The look of the new hotel will be the same as the old hotel, but the company is seeking variances from the county’s Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO) to develop a project that will allow for its best and fullest use.
The reopening of the hotel is likely to result in more visitors driving on roads in Po‘ipu, contributing to daily traffic congestion common to the resort area.
But representatives for the developer said in documents sent to the county Planning Department that they don’t believe the traffic from The New Poipu Beach Hotel will significantly add to what exists in the area today. An existing 200-footlong, left-turn-storage lane from Po‘ipu Road onto the hotel site should accommodate traffic generated by the project, the developer said in a report to the county. Still, traffic from the hotel and traffic from existing hotels and those that are to be built in the Koloa and Po‘ipu area will create more traffic congestion in the area in the future, Louis Abrams of the Koloa Community Association said.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
