LIHUE — If Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. has his way and the last “Iniki ordinance” is repealed, the rebuild of Coco Palms Resort the way it was may become more difficult. “Currently, Coco Palms could seek to rebuild under the
LIHUE — If Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. has his way and the last “Iniki ordinance” is repealed, the rebuild of Coco Palms Resort the way it was may become more difficult.
“Currently, Coco Palms could seek to rebuild under the Iniki ordinance,” county spokeswoman Beth Tokioka said.
The iconic Wailua beachfront hotel never reopened after Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai on Sept. 11, 1992.
The permits to rebuild Coco Palms expired on Jan. 25, and the landowner recently said he is still hopeful to find the right investor to go over the permitting process all over again and rebuild the property the way it was.
Following Iniki, county laws were passed to expedite permits and fee exemptions, according to a Wednesday news release from the Mayor’s Office.
In 1997, a new law put an end to those exemptions, but retained a provision that allows restoration of a non-conforming building to its “pre-Iniki” condition.
Tokioka said if landowner Coco Palms Ventures LLC wants to use this existing Iniki ordinance, they would have to utilize the same footprint that was existing prior to the hurricane.
“Once this ordinance is repealed, that option is no longer available to them,” she said. “However they are free at any time to put a new permit application before the Planning Commission for consideration, with or without the Iniki ordinance.”
Coco Palms took a beating from Iniki, and also suffered from a fire a few years ago, and ongoing vandalism. But most of the structural foundations of the main buildings are made of rock and steel.
A Coco Palms tour guide said recently that there was no asbestos — a known carcinogen — used in the rooms, which would make demolition easier.
