INDEX - DEVELOPMENT
www.islandbreath.org ID# 0502-08

SUBJECT: GROWTH & PUBLIC INTEREST

SOURCE: JUAN WILSON juanwilson@mac.com

POSTED: 12 AUGUST 2005 - 4:00pm HST

Bad Planning continues in Waipouli


Shoreline along east coast of Kauai near Waipouli

 

by Juan Wilson 12 August 2005

Construction is well under wayon the multi story oceanfront Waipouli beach condominium project by Unlimited Construction. Soaring concrete columns and slabs three stories high are blotting out what once looked like a beachside park. The project completion has been planned for late in 2005 or early 2006. This is a project that never should have been approved by the Planning Commission or Planning Department but is upon now.

The developer, Keith Singleton, was quoted as saying "We have designed and priced the luxury units to satisfy a variety of buyers. There's something here for everyone. Sales and marketing should begin soon with prices ranging from $350,000 to $2.5 million".

The project consists of a mix of mostly two bedroom units, 27 one bedrooms and six hotel studio units. Other facilities and amenities will include a restaurant, spa, fitness center, beach activity center and an 185,000 gallon fresh-water fantasy pool complete with two serpentine water slides. (Editor's note: this sounds more like a vacation resort than housing)

The $100 million 196 unit luxury beachfront residential condominium project in Waipoli, across from the Safeway shopping center will have a profound and negative impact on Kauai. The section of the coastal highway that passes this ill conceived project is the a critical traffic bottleneck that affects all regional Kauai traffic.

Recently I was made aware an admission by the Kauai County Planning Director Ian Costa that the owner and contractor had started on the construction on this project without the required Hawaii State Shoreline Certification. The Planning Department knew this and Costa is reported to have indicated that the Building Department (that provides county building permits) was not notified by Planning and no effort was made to bring the owner to task over the issue.

Another glaring mistake made by Planning was recently revealed to me. The Waipoli project was gotten approval to divert the coastal bike and walking bath off the shore and around the project. If this is true it is a planning abomination and should lead to the removal of Ian Costa as Planning Director. If anything, the Waipoli Project should be bending over backward to provide amenities for the public rather than going so far as to exclude passage along the beach.

It would seem that the Waipoli Condo developers have a lot of clout in the form of money and political influence. It is too late to save Kauai from the worst of the damage from current developments in Waipoli, but perhaps a public outcry about public amenities and access would help get something besides more traffic jams.


KAUAI COUNTY MAYOR
Bryan J. Baptiste
4444 Rice St, Suite 235
Lihue, HI 96766
Phone: (808) 241-6300
Fax: 808-241-6877
mayor@kauaigov.com

2004-2006 KAUAI COUNTY COUNCIL
Kauai County Council Members:
Council Chair Bill “Kaipo” Asing
Council Vice Chair James Kunane Tokioka
Councilmember Jay Furfaro
Councilmember Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho
Councilmember Daryl W. Kaneshiro
Councilmember Mel Rapozo
Councilmember JoAnn A. Yukimura

Write to: County Council Services
4444 Rice St, Suite 235
Lihue, HI 96766
Email all Kauai County Council members at:
cokcouncil@kauai.hawaii.gov|

KAUAI COUNTY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE
JoAnn A. Yukimura, Committee Chair
Jay Furfaro, Committee Vice Chair
Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho
Daryl W. Kaneshiro
James Kunane Tokioka

KAUAI COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Planning Commissioner Chairman Steven Weinstein

5111 Alii Drive, Hanapepe Heights, HI 96716
(808) 335-3610
Planning Commissioner S. Kato-Klutke
PO Box 9623, Kapaa, HI 96746-9623
(808) 821-2154
Planning Commissioner Randy Nishimura
PO Box 0311, Lihue, HI 96766-0311
(808) 245-7453
Planning Commissioner Larry Chaffin
PO Box 1165, Lihue, HI 96756-1165
(808) 742-4787 - fax (808) 742-1788
Planning Commissioner Theo Daligdig III
Kapaa, HI 96746 (no address listed)
(808) 821-0431

KAUAI COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT

Ian K. Costa: Planning Director
Bryan Mamaclay - Planner

Miles Shironaka - Planner
Kauai Planning Department
4444 Rice Street, Lihue, 96766 HI
(808) 241-6677

 


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