{"id":11124,"date":"2019-04-01T00:30:34","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T00:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=11124"},"modified":"2019-05-06T23:10:26","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T23:10:26","slug":"board-talk-hanalei-home-ala-wai-permit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=11124","title":{"rendered":"Board Talk: Hanalei Home, Ala Wai Permit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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(Above) The proposed house site. (Top photo) An artist’s rendering of the completed structures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Billionaire NBA Team Owner Wins Permit to Build Hanalei Compound<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mark Zuckerberg isn\u2019t the only mainland billionaire who wants a private compound in North Kaua\u2018i for his family. On January 25, Helios Hanalei, LLC \u2014 a company formed by Atlanta Hawks co- owner Michael Gearon, Jr. \u2014 received approval from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources of a Conservation District Use Permit to construct a single-family residence on a sloping bluff above Hanalei valley, along Kuhio Highway, the island\u2019s belt road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board included several conditions\nintended to ensure that vegetation will hide\nthe home from most vantage points. Should\nGearon reduce the amount of vegetation\nthat\u2019s already on the property, he could face\ndaily fines of $2,000 a day and potentially be\nrequired to remove all improvements.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a number of Hanalei residents\nexpressed their opposition to the project,\nno one was granted a contested case hearing\nby the board.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed five-bedroom single-family residence is actually seven 18-foot-tall buildings connected by a cedar roofline. The footprint of the home will span nearly 5,000 square feet, which is the maximum developable area for the parcel. In addition to a saltwater pool and decking, Gearon plans to build a spa\/hot tub area, lava rock retaining\/privacy walls, outdoor showers and a cooking area, as well as \u201chardscaping.\u201d (The staff submittal to the Land Board mentions another use \u2013 \u201cequipment building\u201d\n\u2013 without further elaboration.)\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gearon intends to plant milo, hala, loulu, and naupaka on parts of the property, in part, to preserve the Hawaiian \u201csense of place,\u201d according to a report by Sam Lemmo, administrator for the Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his report, Lemmo notes that his\noffice received many public comments\non the proposed development. The most\ncommon concerns were that the home may\nbe intended for commercial use and that it\nwill damage viewplanes or pose a problem\nshould the bluff experience a landslide.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the board\u2019s January meeting, Lemmo said that most of the house would be concealed by the existing vegetation along the bluff. \u201cPossibly, the roof could be seen,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should Gearon start to remove trees or improve his viewplane, the house could become more visible, Lemmo warned. To deter that, his division included permit conditions requiring the homeowner to maintain the vegetative buffer in its current state. While Gearon does plan to improve the screening vegetation, he will face penalties if he tries to reduce it, Lemmo said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lemmo noted that Gearon chose to keep the height of the house to 18 feet, which is seven feet shorter than what is allowed under Conservation District rules. However, Lemmo said he was a bit irritated at the fact that he received no response to a request\nthat the landowner provide an alternative\nto the proposed house.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land Board members Keone Downing and Stanley Roehrig questioned Lemmo about what the penalties might be should the landowner, say, start running a wedding business or a bed-and-breakfast on the property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lemmo said that one of the permit\nconditions is that the residence shall not\nbe used for rental or any other commercial\npurpose. As a penalty, he said the board\ncould revoke the permit or impose fines of\n$2,000 per violation per day if the owner\ndoesn\u2019t cease the unauthorized use.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A deputy attorney general advising the board added that the board could also require the landowner to remove the home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the likelihood that Gearon would use the home for commercial purposes, Lemmo asked the board, \u201cDo you people care to know who this guy is? … I\u2019ve interacted with these people. I doubt they would do an Airbnb here, but I hear your concern.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorney Jean Campbell, representing Gearon, assured the board that he\u2019s not planning to cut any trees or conduct commercial uses on the property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is interested in his privacy and the mountain view and distant ocean view. He doesn\u2019t want to see Hanalei town,\u201d she said, adding that she agreed with the deputy attorney general that if the permit is voided, the house can go. \u201cHe\u2019s not interested in commercial uses. … That\u2019s so far from anything he has in mind. He wants this to be a legacy for his family,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gearon\u2019s sister Tierney added that moving to Kaua\u2018i has long been a family dream. \u201cMy dad\u2019s getting older. My brother is trying to have that dream come true,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open Space\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Hanalei resident Mina Morita, the home\nGearon proposed to build was more like a\nnightmare.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In written testimony to the board, Morita \u2014 a former state legislator, Public Utilities Commission director, and Environment Hawai\u2018i <\/em>board member \u2014 warned that if the permit was approved, it would threaten the open spaces the Hanalei community has been trying to preserve ever since the dedication of 1,000 acres for the Hanalei Wildlife Refuge in 1968. She stated that the community\u2019s intent is \u201creflected in numerous planning documents and ordinances.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morita urged the board to \u201crevisit the original intent when the subdivision of Princeville occurred, that the parcels surrounding the perimeter of Hanalei Valley were intended to be greenbelts and in line with the conservation, protection and preservation of natural and cultural resources.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a public hearing in Hanalei on the permit last October, she expressed her dismay that \u201czoning and land use designation loopholes and lack of recordation of intent at the time of the original subdivision have not protected parcels like this one from development.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her written testimony, she claimed\nthat when, in the 1960s and 1970s, land\nwas subdivided in connection with the\ndevelopment of Princeville, \u201clots along the\nperimeter of Hanalei Valley were intended\nto be green belts, a buffer zone, to protect\nthe Hanalei Valley area from the visual\nimpacts of development.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She offered the parcel\u2019s sales history\nas evidence that the property was never\nmeant to be developed. \u201cIn keeping with\nthe original intent of this lot as a green belt\nbuffer, this parcel was valued at $0.00 prior\nto 2005,\u201d she testified.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the intent to preserve the land\nwas never properly recorded, the sales price\nof the 14-acre parcel has ballooned, from\n$5,600 in 2006 to $1.1 million in March\n2012, she said. Gearon bought the land in\n2016 for $4.3 million.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the board meeting, member Chris Yuen asked Lemmo whether he was aware of any documentation that confirmed Morita\u2019s claim that the property was intended to be open space in the Princeville master plan. Lemmo said he was not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaua\u2018i Land Board member Tommy\nOi said that when he was still a land agent\nfor the DLNR, a previous owner offered\nto give the land to the state, but the state\ndidn\u2019t want it.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landslide Risk\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An artist’s rendering of the aerial view of the completed residence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to concerns over the loss of open\nspace, Morita and fellow Hanalei resident\nCarl Imperato also worried about how\nlandslides from the ridge would affect their\nability to get in and out of the valley.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her written testimony, Morita informed the board that there have been two landslide events after one last April temporarily closed the Belt Road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe proximity of the area to be developed (the western end of the lot) is well- known for water seepage appearing on the highway, causing recurring potholes. This ongoing hazard area is currently marked with concrete barriers along the highway,\u201d she continued. She also asked what kind of right of way would be available for Department of Transportation (DOT) slope mitigation projects if Gearon\u2019s structures impede access. Imperato raised the same concern at the board meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccess to the parcel for slope stabilization\/mitigation work should be preserved by the state and a condition of this permit with the stipulation that built structures should not impede this access,\u201d Morita wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lemmo told the board that when his\ndivision asked the DOT whether it had\nany concerns about slope stability issues,\n\u201cnobody would say the home was a problem\nfor them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imperato requested a contested case\nhearing on the basis that he was a Hanalei\nresident whose access to his home could be\naffected if the development didn\u2019t provide\na buffer sufficient for the state to mitigate\nlandslide effects. After an executive session,\nthe board voted to deny his request.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board member Yuen later pointed out that given the topography of the lot, stormwater would \u201cnot flow uphill and come down the cliff to the location where they\u2019ve been having problems. … Where the house is located, which is closer to the hairpin turn, the slope is much less.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuen, a former Planning Director for\nHawai\u2018i County, seemed satisfied with\nGearon\u2019s efforts to design an unobtrusive\nresidence. \u201cYou could build an awful thing\nupon this ridge. … They could have made\na house that maximizes their own view,\u201d\nYuen said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that, in this case, he was not\nworried about the permit conditions being\nenforceable, given the community interest\nin the project. \u201cIf they violate, we are going\nto get a complaint. … People are gonna\nbe howling,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBelieve me, we\u2019re gonna get a lot of\ncomplaints regardless of what they do or\ndon\u2019t do,\u201d Lemmo replied.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a motion from Oi seconded by\nMaui member Jimmy Gomes, the board\nunanimously approved the permit.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Ala Wai Flood Permit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Land Board has granted a right-of-entry permit to the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to allow the agency to conduct due diligence work on state land for its massive flood control project, which will include walls along the Ala Wai canal as well as detention basins throughout the watershed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the board\u2019s vote on January 25, Corps project manager Jeff Herzog told the board that the agency needed the permit to do things like conduct further topographic work to get exact elevations along the Ala Wai canal and bore into the ground to determine what kind of\nwalls should be built to prevent overflowing.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave Watase, a landowner whose property the corps is planning to condemn for one of its detention basins, testified in opposition to the permit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a one-man band hoping to build an\narmy to fight the Army Corps\u2019 crazy ideas\nfor the Ala Wai project,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watase said the corps targeted his entire\n35,000-square-foot property along Waiomao\nStream for a detention basin in September\n2015. \u201cI\u2019ve since been living under the veil\nof this threat,\u201d he said, adding that he had\nhoped his three children could one day build\ntheir homes on the property.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that it was premature for the Land Board to grant a permit for exploratory\nwork on the Ala Wai flood control project\nbecause \u201cpublic uprising will stop it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an executive session on what seemed\nto be Watase\u2019s contested case hearing request,\nthe board voted to deny it.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It did, however, vote to approve the permit to the Army Corps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the final vote, board member Stanley Roehrig encouraged the corps to \u201cuse a little softer hand with these local people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think if you folks are a little kinder [you\u2019ll] get a lot better reaction. If things heat up, the problems get bigger and bigger and bigger. … If you want this project to go forward because it has merit, that gets to be a problem,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Teresa Dawson <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

If you like what we do, please consider supporting Environment Hawai<\/strong>\u2018i with a tax-deductible donation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donate<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billionaire NBA Team Owner Wins Permit to Build Hanalei Compound Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the only mainland billionaire who wants a private compound in North Kaua‘i for his family. On January 25, Helios Hanalei, LLC — a company formed by Atlanta … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-11124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2019","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}