Hokulia Bypass History,Kamanu Street Extension,Palamanui Mauka/Makai Road,Hokulia Phase III Entitlement Process,Universal Service Fund Woes

I have been asked what will happen to the Hokulia bypass if Oceanside 1250 has to file for bankruptcy .It is my understanding that they are obligated to complete the entire bypass road. But there is a number of loopholes, as I will explain.

According to Hokulia’s zoning ordinance 96-7 :

“construct the Mamalahoa Highway Bypass in its entirety between the approximate vicinity of Keauhou and Captain Cook, consisting of two lanes with sufficient right-of-way for a total of four lanes,provided further, that the section of the Mamalahoa Highway Bypass shall be completed and available for public use prior to the occupancy of any dwelling unit within the entire project area.”

But instead of completing the entire bypass road, Hokulia posted a surety bond. Which would guarantee the completion of the bypass road.Plus it would allow immediate occupancy of the project and not require Hokulia to build a expensive bypass road right off the bat. This first loophole is located
under Condition N.

“In lieu of actual construction of infrastructural improvements as required under Conditions E, G, J, K, and M, the applicant may enter into an agreement with the Planning Director and the Department of Public Works and the Department of Water Supply, if applicable, to assure the county that the infrastructural improvement will be constructed together with the appropriate bond, surety, or other security deemed acceptable to the Planning Director and approved by the Corporation Counsel. Upon execution of such agreement and filing of the security with the county, if applicable, Final Subdivision Approval for the subject property or portions thereof shall be granted prior to the actual construction of required infrastructural improvements.”

On top of this requirement imposed on Hokulia, the developers agreement between Hawaii County and Oceanside 1250 stated this :

“In any event from the time construction commences the entire Bypass Highway shall be completed within five (5) years provided that those certain circumstances as articulated in Paragraph 39 do not exist”.

Paragraph 39 states this :

“government legislation, regulation or controls or economic controls, making it impossible to complete any duties, obligation, or condition shall be excused for the period of the delay and the period for the performance of any such duty, obligation, or condition shall be extended for a period equivalent to the period of such delay.”

The latter is why Oceanside hasn’t breached their agreements with Hawaii County. Both Hawaii County and Oceanside claim that the shutdown of Hokulia due to Jack Kelly’s lawsuit stopped the clock. The ongoing Coupe condemnation litigation is another example cited which stopped the clock. But when Judge Ibarra ruled that the condemnation could proceed, the clock apparently restarted again. Thus there is either 31 or 38 months left for Oceanside to complete this road, depending on who is counting.

But whats really troubling about Paragraph 39 is the fact that Oceanside may it use to skirt their obligation to complete this roadway. Especially considering Oceanside/Hokulia’s precarious financial condition.Making this even worse is the fact if Hokulia goes belly up, Hawaii County can’t cash in the bonds until the clock stops ticking. Which would further delay the completion of this road.

(I want to say mahalo to the person who sent me that background on the surety bonds and the information on Hokulia’s zoning ordinance)

I sent this e-mail to Hawaii County Council in support of the resolution which would create a community facilities district to finance the extension of Kamanu Street.

Aloha,

It is my understanding there is a proposed resolution that will be heard this Tuesday. Which create a special tax district in the area of the future West Hawaii Business Park. This will fund the extension of Kamanu Street to Kealakehe Parkway.

I strongly urge you to vote for this resolution. West Hawaii needs better roadway interconnectivity. By creating this community facilities district, it may be a good template to fund building of more roads here in West Hawaii. In my honest opinion,previous councils should explored funding mechanisms such as these. Our roadway infrastructure crisis probably not been so bad if they did so.

Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona

I also sent this e-mail to Chris Yuen and Councilman Pilago’s office about my concerns in regards to the deal between Palamanui and Lynch Investments. Both of these developers were going to cooperate in building a new mauka/makai connector road. But in my opinion, that deal is probably up in the air since Makalei Golf Course has been foreclosed upon.

Aloha,

As you are aware Lynch Investments has had its Makalei Golf Course property been foreclosed upon. As far as I recall when Palamanui was going through its entitlement process, a deal was made between Palamanui and Lynch Investments to build a mauka/makai connector road. I’m wondering what is status of this situation. Hopefully this won’t force the use of Makalei Estate’s roadway by Palamanui ?

Aaron

I also sent this e-mail to Councilwoman Ford and Chris Yuen expressing my concerns about Hokulia starting the Phase III entitlement process.

Aloha,

As far as I understand, Hokulia has started the process to get the entitlements for Phase III of their project ? I’m curious where they stand with this process ? Hopefully any further entitlements will be tied to completion of Phase II of the Hokulia bypass. If you know anything more about this please let me know.

Aaron

Lastly, I need to give a hat tip to Hunter Bishop about alerting me about this article. It talks about the severe financial problems the Universerval Service Fund is facing. Its gotten to the point that the FCC has instituted a cap on payouts. But even that is just a band-aid solution to the much larger issues facing the USF.

This turn of events may have severe local implications for Sandwich Isles Communications,Sprint/Nextel,and Hawaiian Telcom.