Kauai residents lose
fight to stop tower

A radio broadcasting company hopes
to start building in July

By Joan Conrow
Star-Bulletin

LIHUE -- A group of Kauai residents has failed in a bid to keep Stangl Broadcasting from erecting a 250-foot, red-and-white radio tower, topped with a flashing red light, on scenic Haupu Ridge.

The state attorney general has determined the Board of Land and Natural Resources may not reconsider its Oct. 11 decision to grant Casey Stangl a conservation district permit for the tower. It was the first time such a request had been posed to the panel.

"Of course, we're delighted," said Andrew Daymude of the Keith Companies, the land planning firm for the project. "He'll be moving full steam ahead."

Daymude said the 16-week delay cost Stangl $100,000 to $120,000 and caused him to lose both his initial construction funding and his faith in the process.

"He learned land-use planning in Hawaii and getting permits involves more than the merits of just the application."

Stangl has since secured new financing, Daymude said, and construction could begin by July 15.

That's not what members of the Save Haupu Ridge Association wanted to hear. "We certainly think it's a travesty to this island to deface that beautiful ridge," said spokesman Bob Klass. "A lot of people are very upset about it."

Klass said residents plan to start a "watchdog group" for Kauai to ensure that other projects don't slip by without the public's involvement.

Some Kauai residents had asked the board to reconsider its decision granting the permit, claiming citizens were not properly notified of hearings on the project and that Stangl made misrepresentations in his application.

But Deputy Attorney General William M. Tam, in a June 4 letter to the board, wrote that adequate public notice was given about the radio tower and "no one was denied his or her opportunity to present information or testify on the project."

Tam also found no provisions under state law or the board's administrative rules for reconsidering a permit approved at an earlier meeting.

Although the board may not reconsider its decision, Tam wrote, it does have authority to investigate any allegations of misrepresentation. If Stangl did provide false or incomplete information, Tam wrote, the board could modify, suspend or revoke the permit.

Opponents contended Stangl misrepresented the size and color of the tower and falsely claimed support for the project by Hawaii's congressional delegation.

They also said the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which initially had no objections to the tower, failed to consult with Hawaiian groups on Kauai.

"We certainly feel there were valid misrepresentations," Klass said.

But after investigating the allegations, the Department of Land and Natural Resources decided otherwise.

Klass said residents repeatedly asked Stangl to move the tower to another location, but he refused. Daymude said moving the project would have forced Stangl to repeat the entire permit process. Now, he said, "there will be no compromise from the application."