PO’IPU – The words were simple, but powerful. “Can you please help our company to survive?” Douglas Aviguetero asked the state Land Use Commission. “We’re going to need jobs,” added Randall Uyehara. Jerry Lagazo, a third-generation Gay & Robinson employee,
PO’IPU – The words were simple, but powerful.
“Can you please help our company to survive?” Douglas Aviguetero asked the state Land Use Commission.
“We’re going to need jobs,” added Randall Uyehara.
Jerry Lagazo, a third-generation Gay & Robinson employee, said a resort planned on Robinson family property near Pakala and Waimea would mean jobs to help his family remain on Kaua’i’s Westside for many more generations.
“I hope I can retire,” he said.
The Gay & Robinson or Robinson ranch workers were among 19 of 24 speakers at a commission hearing Thursday who supported the Robinson family’s request to change the state land-use designation from agriculture to urban on 160 acres of land makai of Kaumuali’i Highway.
“Give jobs to the Westside people, because we need it the most,” said Kaleo Ho’okano.
Developer Lew Geyser, of Destination Villages Kaua’i, wants to construct 250 single-story cabins throughout the property, many within 50 feet or less of the shoreline.
The property includes about 4,400 feet of shoreline between Makaweli Landing and Po’o Point.
The Robinson family house, built by Aubrey Robinson just over 100 years ago but vacant since the late 1980s, would be restored to its original splendor and be the centerpiece of the resort, according to developers.
Eight Robinson employee homes on the property would remain occupied by those employees for as long as they desire, said Scott Ezer, a planner from the Honolulu firm of Helber, Hastert & Fee that is working with the developer.
Tsutomu Kojiri, another Gay & Robinson employee, gave the commission a petition in favor of the resort development. It was signed by 240 of the company’s 262 active employees.
The hearing continued into Friday at the Sheraton Kaua’i Resort. Officials said if more time is needed beyond the scheduled two days to gather oral public testimony, another hearing will be conducted on the island in September.
Among those speaking against the proposal Thursday was Joseph Manini Sr., who claimed his family, not the Robinsons, owns the property.
Manini said he is a descendant of Native Hawaiians who lived on the property, given to them by early island chiefs.
A Gay & Robinson employee for 47 years, the retired cowboy said he was told by earlier cowboys that one area on the parcel is a heiau, a sacred site. That designation is disputed by an archaeologist hired by the developer.
Manini also contends that the Russian Fort was built to protect the ruling chief of the area, Puni, who lived at Kapalawai and was a relative of Manini’s.
Manini said he publicly claimed title to the land to get that information on the record in case he sues the federal, state or county governments.
The proposed resort site has historical importance to Native Hawaiians, he continued.
“We have good places for visitors to stay (on Kaua’i). We don’t need more on this property,” he said.
Bruce Pleas of Kekaha said the resort should be on the mountain side of the highway instead of near the shoreline. He contended the resort shouldn’t be built on its proposed location, at least until ground-penetrating radar makes sure burial sites or important archaeological “cultural layers” won’t be disturbed by the project.
Care must also be taken to preserve the habitat and existence of at least three native species of animals living on the property, he said.
“Let’s not pass this until everything is done right,” Pleas said.
The proposed resort would include an amphitheater, beach, volleyball, basketball and tennis courts, badminton and croquet areas, lu’au grounds, three swimming pools, a bar and two restaurants, a fitness center, an orchard and a sewage treatment plant.
Carol Furtado, whose mother and grandparents were long-time Makaweli and Pakala residents, said she supports the proposed resort.
It would allow people to stroll through the historic Robinson family home-something she hasn’t been able to do, she said. In addition, jobs created by the resort would likely save a percentage of the Westside population from having to drive to Lihu’e, Kapa’a or Po’ipu for work, Furtado said.
Ian Emberson said he walked the entire stretch of highway in Waimea Thursday, and every business owner he talked to along the strip supports the Kapalawai plan.
As a Westside resident and West Kaua’i Business and Professional Association member, he supports the project, as well, he said.
Lots of Waimea businesses are holding on by their “fingernails,” said Emberson, who works at the Waimea branch of Bank of Hawai’i. Businesses may be busy at times, but they aren’t thriving, he said.
Kaua’i Veterans Memorial Hospital also is barely getting by, and having a resort close to town will mean Waimea businesses will get regular visits from those staying at Kapalawai, he continued.
Every day, people young and old from Westside communities look for work at Waimea Plantation Cottages, Emberson said. There are no openings, he said.
Beryl Blaich, a Kilauea resident and coastal conservation organizer with the island chapter of the Sierra Club, said the club doubts the area’s ability to remain an effective drainage basin for at least 800 acres of mauka lands if it becomes a resort.
While excited about the prospect of new jobs and preservation of important features on the property, she expressed concern about the suitability of a 250-unit resort.
Most of the property is within the county’s open zone, which by county standards allows for very little development, Blaich said.
The fact that the property is a drainage area, with significant parts in the tsunami (tidal wave) inundation area and flood zone, must be taken into consideration, she said. She also said the property may not be able to handle the 24 inches of rain the area gets each year, plus the thousands of gallons of water per acre the resort would require for irrigation.
In addition, at least four parking lots for over 450 vehicles will be built of impermeable surfaces, she continued.
With Amfac not replanting sugar fields recently harvested on both the eastern and western sides of the island, Uyehara said, there will subsequently be no irrigation, cultivation or harvesting work on those acres. So 400 of his “brothers” at Amfac Sugar Kaua’i’s Lihu’e operation will shortly be out of work, he said.
New business opportunities that would be created at or near the resort could provide jobs for displaced sugar workers, as well as new high school graduates who can’t find jobs, he said.
A surfer, Uyehara said the popular Pakala break is “too crowded now.” When surf is good, the 70-stall parking lot designated for beach access and other uses will be too small, he warned.
Stanley Roehrig, a Land Use Commission member from the Big Island, said there should be off-street parking so surfers won’t have to dodge traffic along the highway while loading and unloading their boards.
Still, once the resort is built, the surf spot is going to get busier, said Roehrig, who surfs on the Hilo coast.
Juan Villalobos, a Gay & Robinson employee, said retirees think it’s sad that young people move away from Kaua’i because there are no jobs available here.
Cayetano “Sonny” Gerardo, a candidate for Kaua’i County Council, supported the urban designation and resort proposal, saying the Robinson family has proven to be good stewards of land it owns.
Without new economic opportunities on the Westside, the area will experience a “mass exodus” not seen since after Hurricane Iniki in 1992, Gerardo said.
James Pacopac, who represents unionized workers and contractors, spoke in support of the project for unionized workers among the crowd of about 100 at the hearing.
Kaua’i’s construction industry is the slowest in the state right now, and when a developer proposes a new resort while preserving a historic home and other buildings in the process, such a developer should be supported, he said.
Cheryl Lovell-Obatake voiced support for day-only use of the property, but not a 250-unit resort complex.
She said there is conflict between urban development and rural lifestyle-and, potentially, between newcomers to the island and long-time residents.
Rob Swigart asked the commission to deny the application and encourage the developer to build a resort mauka of the highway. Kapalawai in its present state is how it should be kept, said Swigart.
Ho’okano, another surfer and waterman, from Waimea, said he is an interim officer of the Leeward Kaua’i ‘Ohana, which wants to be a part of the planning process for the resort.
“I ain’t going no place. We’re here to tell you how we want to live here,” Ho’okano said.
“Keep it where it is. Let them build it,” said Sandra Makuaole, whose husband is a Native Hawaiian of the Westside.
Dave Walker, a member of the West Kaua’i Business and Professional Association, said the project will create new jobs and help alleviate a dangerous practice of surfers parking along a 50-mile-per-hour highway.
He stressed the need for an access route for emergency vehicles to get to the beach area, and the need to change the speed limit on the highway fronting the property down to 35 or 25 miles per hour.
Six other individuals and groups, including the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce, Kikiaola Land Co., West Kaua’i Community Development Corp.
and Kaua’i Economic Development Board, submitted written testimony in favor of the resort.
Staff writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net
