{"id":15530,"date":"2023-12-01T10:58:31","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T20:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15530"},"modified":"2023-12-01T10:58:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T20:58:32","slug":"new-noteworthy-kaloko-heights-and-a-correction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15530","title":{"rendered":"New & Noteworthy: Kaloko Heights, and a Correction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kona Vistas Correction:<\/strong> Last month we reported that the Hawai\u02bbi County Cultural Resources Commission had not come to a final decision on what recommendation to make with respect to the planned Kona Vistas housing development.  We were in error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 17, Aaron Spielman, commission chair, forwarded the commission\u2019s recommendations to Barbara DeFranco, chair of the Leeward Planning Commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter considering the cultural and historic resources on the property including the undocumented Holualoa Trail and petroglyph and how it relates to Holualoa, as well as other possible significant cultural historic features not previously identified, the CRC\u2019s opinion of the project\u2019s impact to historical assets is that this project will likely have a substantial impact on historic assets,\u201d Spielman stated in the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In consequence, the CRC\u2019s preference is to preserve the property \u201cin perpetuity,\u201d Spielman said. Should that not be possible, the CRC recommended conditions be imposed in advance of the county issuing any development permits. First, the CRC \u201crecommends further documentation of lineal descendant and kama\u02bbaina knowledge of the natural and cultural resources of the project area, inclusive of trails.\u201d Second, it recommends that the developer amend the current plan \u201cto include larger open space areas that more sensitively integrate and protect the natural, historical, and cultural features of the landscape, including trails and other cultural sites, as well as natural features of the terrain such as drainage channels, and native plants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Leeward Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled to take up in January the request of the developer, Kona Three, LLC, to reauthorize prior zoning ordinances for ten more years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaloko Extension Denied: <\/strong>Once again, the Land Use Commission has rejected the request of the landowners for a 10-year extension of time to apply for redistricting of land in the second phase of the Kaloko Heights development, on the Kona side of the Big Island. The request was denied when the LUC first considered it in April. In August, William Yuen, representing the landowners, asked the LUC to reconsider the request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission met on November 16 to hear the request. All public testimony was in opposition, with most witnesses discussing the impact that the development of the second phase of the project would have on downstream resources, especially fishponds at Kaloko-Honokohau and nearshore waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Nancy Carr-Smith, commissioner representing Hawai\u02bbi Island, wanted to see the time extension granted, most other commissioners expressed concerns that changes in Hawai\u02bbi law and court decisions over the four decades since approval for the project was granted made it imperative to deny the extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, see the April 2023 article in Environment Hawai\u02bbi<\/em>, \u201cFour Decades After Initial Approval, Kaloko Heights Seeks More Time\u201d and also \u201cLUC Grills Kona Developer on Compliance with Environmental, Cultural Regulations,\u201d in the May 2023 edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kona Vistas Correction: Last month we reported that the Hawaiʻi County Cultural Resources Commission had not come to a final decision on what recommendation to make with respect to the planned Kona Vistas housing development.  We were in error. On … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[518],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-15530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-december-2023","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15530","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=15530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}