It looks like the Kona Kai Ola project will be scuttled by Jacoby Development Inc according this submittal to the Board of Land & Natural Resources. The request by Jacoby will be heard at the next board meeting on Septeber 26, 2008.
“Termination of Kona Kai Ola Development Agreement with Jacoby Development, Inc. for public lands at Kealakehe, North Kona, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii. TMK: (3) 7-4-08: 71, 999, and portion of 3.”
DATE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008
TIME: 9:00 A.M.
PLACE:
KALANIMOKU BUILDING
LAND BOARD CONFERENCE ROOM
1151 PUNCHBOWL STREET
HONOLULU, HAWAII 96813
According Jacoby’s notice of termination to the BLNR, Jacoby’s inability to obtain the needed entitlements played a huge role in their desire to back out this project. But really broke the camel’s back was the US Army Corps of Engineers requirement to do a full scale NEPA EIS of the entire project before they would sign off on allowing Jacoby to dredge for their proposed marina.
The next step in this process should get interesting. Jacoby owes $51,150 to the DLNR and $358,500 to DHHL (for lease rent on the surrounding 200 acres of land). I would bet there will be a legal fight over these fees. Especially since Jacoby claims the DLNR did very little to advance their proposal.
Mahalo to Bob Ward for this news tip.
Today is the primary election.Luckily I already absentee voted last Saturday. So I don’t have to deal with rushing down to vote today. It should be very interesting to see how a number of political races turn out.
Jacoby’s news that they were pulling out of their proposed project was more than welcome. Unfortunately, the switcharoo bad news followed: Jacoby is back, apparently in negotiation with the State, hoping to revive their plans. (Could this sudden change of heart have anything to do with an “aha” moment — “why pull out now when there might be a new, more developer-friendly Kenoi administration in the County that would support our project?”) Mayor Kim has stated that he does not support Jacoby’s Kona Kai Ola project (nor does the public — especially on public land that would be destroyed forever for yet another touristic/commercial mega-venture — one that would bring thousands of people — and cars — in to West Hawai`i, but would take the big money out (stealing the quality — and use — of the community’s natural and cultural coastal resources).
[Another good reason to elect Angel Pilago -- a proven leader who knows that building more and more mega-resorts has never lead West Hawai`i down the path to a self-sufficient and economically sustainable future. Why would it be expected to now?]
The Kim administration and the community have been clear in their opposition to this development; and the State should understand that the monstrous, out-of-sync, Kona Kai Ola plan would be a major detriment to West Hawai`i where roads, housing, public recreation (not devoted to tourists) is severely lacking and/or overtaxed.
This project does the opposite of giving promise to the region’s enhanced environmental, social, and cultural balance. With the promise of thousands of new cars, 15-years of construction noise, migrant work force and over 500,000 — yes, 500,000 — square feet of new commercial space makai of the Queen Ka`auhumanu Highway (and rumors of a Walmart superstore!), the proposal is at odds with the Kona Community Development Plan (in fact, it lies outside of any of the Growth Opportunity Areas chosen by the public as preferred for new urban growth, and is in opposition of Smart Growth principles creating small, community centers to eliminate traffic and sprawl and enhance social balance.
Jacoby’s proposal lies, in fact, in one of the areas the public clearly showed they DID NOT want developed (shown as one of main areas the public wanted to see kept in its current Conservation/Open space protection for public use and protection of the area’s natural and cultural resources.
If you agree that the Conservation protection of the land surrounding Honokohau Harbor (and adjacent to Kaloko-Honokohau National Park) should be preserved, please contact Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Laura Thielen asap at dlnr@hawaii.gov. Let her know that the State should allow no concessions to be made to Jacoby for their development. Remind her of the potential of grave harm to the natural environment, especially water quality (admitted in the developer’s EIS) along with potential harm to marine mammals and turtles which live offshore. Besides nearshore water quality being severely compromised, sensitive and unique anchialine ponds will be destroyed (again, admitted in Draft EIS). Viewplanes mauka and makai will be further decimated in this dramatic and protected coastal area, and resident use of the area would be drastically changed forever once thousands of visitors made their way to the proposed 1,800 timeshare units and 770 hotel rooms.
The potential of the loss of this huge area of public coastal land to tourism for Jacoby’s mega-plans is unwarranted. No allowances to make it work for Jacoby — at such huge loss to the community — should even be considered by the state or any new county administration.
Following is a LTE which appeared in West Hawaii Today nearly 2 years ago. Though the Kona Community Development Plan has now become law and the economic situation is shifting, the facts and feelings expressed regarding the project haven’t changed. In fact, the absurdity of allowing that project to proceed on a large chunk of public, coastal land seems even more ludicrous (especially now that the community has seen “on the books” developments like Kohanaiki, Kaupulehu, Sports Authority “mall”, etc come online).
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Bad Timing, Worse Plan
It’s easy to recoil from the idea that our state and its residents are pawns of greedy outside forces, but the evidence is in. Jacoby — a huge, offshore development company — promises Kona the earth, sun, moon (and a road, of course) in return for the transformation of a major piece of open, coastal land at Honokohau into an uneeded, unwanted, urbanized playground for tourists.
Jacoby didn’t hire ex-politicians, big-time marketing consultants, and kanaka leaders to have their plans shrugged off by starry-eyed land use planning optimists and other residents who would like to see Kona remain a decent place to live. Jacoby’s local “dream team” has been lobbying hard, whispering sweet nothings into anyone’s ear who’ll listen, making sure that their plan sails through the “approval” (as opposed to “planning”) process. But despite advances that seem innocent as a kiss, Jacoby’s success would mean rape for Kona, its residents, its shoreline, and its culture.
Jacoby’s uber-insensitivity shows as they unveil a mindbending, traffic-creating monster while Kona reels in its final throes of pre-gridlock. Of course, opportunists like Jacoby find solace from a County and State track record of developer coddling and land use law infringement. Like all developers, Jacoby expects to get their way.
From inside the bad developer box, Jacoby demands that Kona follows their “Same Old, Same Old” lead — changing Hawai`i’s laws to accommodate their out-of-place, out-of-mind scheme. Worse, Jacoby is shameless enough to undermine the community’s present focus and best hope for a bright future: creation of a sane, well-thought out, professionally coordinated Community Development Plan (CDP). This grassroots effort is fast-forwarding to its year-end completion. A legally-binding, County-mandated document, the CDP promises to help guide Kona’s growth while making it clear to everyone where development can and can’t happen. This would level the playing field, help protect Hawai`i’s resources, and enrich the future of Hawai`i residents. But Jacoby can’t wait six months to start making their zillions.
Uncanny overdevelopment is wreaking havoc from Kaupulehu to Kohanaiki to Kealakekua — encroaching mauka as industrial-area and “fake-farm” sprawl. It’s chilling to imagine 1800 time share units, 800 hotel rooms, and absolutely zero — zip, nada — housing for local residents (the tip of Jacoby’s iceberg). Yes, there’s promise of a big, fat marina for 800 more boats from wherever. Yes, a token shoreline “public “park” (Get your parking space early!). Yes, cultural activities (so tourists can see what Hawai`i is “really” like)….Yes, yes.
But Jacoby’s nightmare would culminate in yet another major chunk of Kona coastline being corporately co-opted, with underpaid mauka worker bees buzzing makai to make life comfy (i.e., more Mainland-like) for seaside “guests” merrymaking at the coastline (the cost of living driven up higher by their presence). What could otherwise be part of a long-awaited, community-based, “smart growth” plan (including vastly protected natural shoreline within walking and biking distance of real-life neighborhoods, schools, and real — not canned — local culture), Honokohau, under Jacoby’s watch, would have more developer-generated growth, more tourists, more traffic, more gates, more environmental degradation, more marginalization of local people…more of what’s strangling our island community.