Kaua‘i Planning Commission members on Tuesday issued permits for a bed-and-breakfast business that has operated in an historic building in Hanalei town without permits for about 13 years. The business, which is owned by Yuichi and Kelly Sato, has been
Kaua‘i Planning Commission members on Tuesday issued permits for a bed-and-breakfast business that has operated in an historic building in Hanalei town without permits for about 13 years.
The business, which is owned by Yuichi and Kelly Sato, has been conducted in what was a Japanese Buddhist Mission temple, constructed in 1901 in Kapaia. The historical structure was saved by North Shore resident Larry King, cut into three pieces and moved over 35 miles to the site in Hanalei about 15 years ago.
The building has been used as a home and as a bed-and-breakfast operation since Hurricane ‘Iniki struck Kaua‘i in 1992.
The Satos have owned the business and building since 2000, and sought a county use permit and a Class IV zoning permit.
The couple’s request marks the first time in many years that someone has requested permits to formally run such a business out of a home.
Most bed-and-breakfast operators forgo obtaining the permits because they don’t want their projects to undergo public scrutiny, and risk having their proposals rejected by the county.
During the Tuesday meeting at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, Planning Commission members imposed restrictive conditions that would increase the cost of operating the business and would prevent the transfer of the permits to a new owners of the bed-and-breakfast business of the Satos.
Among the key conditions:
- The permits would apply to the Satos only, and shall not be transferable to future owners of the property.
- The operation should be restricted to one single-family residential dwelling unit, which shall be the full-time residence of and managed by the Satos.
- The Satos can use only two downstairs bedrooms as bed-and-breakfast units. The couple had hoped to use three of the four bedrooms as guestrooms.
- Only one kitchen shall be allowed on the property.
- No cooking facilities, including microwaves, hot plates, toaster ovens or cook tops shall be installed.
- The Satos would have to pay an environmental impact fee of $2,000 ($1,000 for each bedroom used as a bed-and-breakfast unit) to the Planning Department for their business.
- The state Department may require upgrading of the wastewater system for future building permits.
- The Satos will resolve with the Planning Department, the Kaua‘i County Public Works Engineering Division and the state Department of Transportation Highways Division a parking lot and access layout that meets government requirements.
- The Satos also will have to consult with the Kaua‘i County Civil Defense and the state Department of Health officials to develop an emergency plan for flooding and to resolve wastewater issues related to the project. The bed-and-breakfast business currently operates on a cesspool.
Kaua‘i Planning Department officials, however, said several aspects of the property made the Sato project a “potential candidate for a B&B use.”
County documents noted the Sato property is located near the “town center” of Hanalei town, the highway and across from commercially-zoned properties.
The building is the former temple of the Lihu‘e Hongwanji Mission, which is on the State and Historic Registers of Historic Places.
The building was slated for demolition in the mid-1980s to make way for a new education building at the Hongwanji Mission site in Kapaia. It was later sold and moved to Hanalei town, and then used as a home.
The home has been used as a bed-and-breakfast operation by the Satos and others for 12 years without required county permits, county planners said. County documents also contained Web site data showing the Sato building had been temporarily put up for sale.
On the Web:
historicbnb.com
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
