{"id":16214,"date":"2024-11-08T13:21:56","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T23:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=16214"},"modified":"2024-11-08T13:21:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T23:21:57","slug":"new-noteworthy-discovery-harbour-makauwahi-cave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=16214","title":{"rendered":"NEW & NOTEWORTHY: Discovery Harbour, Makauwahi Cave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Discovery Harbour Verdict:<\/strong> A long-running lawsuit over development rights in the South Point area of Discovery Harbour was decided last month in favor of the developer, South Point Investment Group, LLC. Third Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto found that the properties owned by SPIG, including a golf course and several commercially zoned lots, were not subject to any of the restrictive covenants of the Discovery Harbour Community Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the principals of SPIG, Gary McMickle, told The Hawai\u02bbi Tribune-Herald, <\/em>\u201cWe want to go \u2018old Hawaiian,\u2019 adding that plans for a high-end resort floated decades ago were not going to be pursued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community association has appealed Nakamoto\u2019s judgment to the Intermediate Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, another lawsuit SPIG brought against the association in 2018 is still being litigated. In that case, SPIG says that it was damaged by defamatory remarks the association\u2019s officers made in meetings held by the county to develop the Ka\u02bbu Community Development Plan. \u201cSPIG\u2019s right to develop a hotel and commit the commercial lots to other commercial uses is protected by the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution and laws of the state and county agencies relevant to the permitting of the proposed uses,\u201d the complaint states. All the lots in the entire Discovery Harbour community remain in the state Agricultural land use district. The Ka\u02bbu Community Development Plan land use policy map calls for the lots to be designated either Rural or Low Density Urban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(For details on the lawsuit, see \u201cHomeowners\u2019 Association Is Sued by Ka\u02bbu Developer with Big Plans,\u201d in the April 2018 edition of Environment Hawai\u02bbi.<\/em>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makauwahi Cave: <\/strong>Visitors to the Grove Farm website (grovefarm.com) are informed that it \u201cis committed to preserving its historic sites and areas which are rich in cultural significance. We believe that understanding, embracing, and preserving historic sites leads to a richer community and better quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such site celebrated on the company\u2019s website is the Makauwahi Cave Reserve. \u201cThis rich scientific site began to be discovered in 1992 by Dr. David and Lida Pigott Burney,\u201d Grove Farm states. \u201cSince the Burneys’ initial discovery, Makauwahi Cave has become internationally recognized as a model for paleoecology and its application on restoration and learning activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Credit: Makauwahi Cave Reserve\/Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the website\u2019s praise for the Burneys\u2019 work, they left the site on October 31. In a statement, they announced they were retiring from their roles in fundraising and managing the site. \u201cUncertainty over Grove Farm\u2019s future plans for the property prompted the company\u2019s officials to tell the Burneys and their staff that no more grant-funding can be sought because the company did not wish to have any \u2018encumbrances\u2019 on the property.\u201d A federal grant of $2.3 million for conservation initiatives as well as a state grant of $260,000 for community forestry were lost as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year ago, the Burneys\u2019 lease for the cave was put on a month-to-month basis. The Burneys kept the site open to tours and for carrying out previous grants for nearly a year after that. But now, \u201call the money is spent, and as people in our mid-70\u2019s, we can\u2019t afford to dip into our personal saving to keep it going while Grove Farm decides what to do with the place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environment Hawai\u02bbi <\/em>asked Grove Farm about its plans for the cave. No response was received by press time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Patricia Tummons<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovery Harbour Verdict: A long-running lawsuit over development rights in the South Point area of Discovery Harbour was decided last month in favor of the developer, South Point Investment Group, LLC. Third Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto found that the properties … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338,18,530],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-16214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-land-use","category-new-noteworthy","category-november-2024","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16214","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=16214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}