Developer withdraws KAILUA-KONA >> Arizona developer Lyle Anderson is withdrawing a federal lawsuit intended to enable him to develop a residential and agricultural community in South Kona.
Big Isle suit
He agrees to work with the
county and Kona residents to
form a new planBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comAnderson's company, Pacific Star LLC, will instead work with Hawaii County government and Kona residents to develop a new concept for the property, said company Vice President Dick Frye.
Pacific Star announced last year that it would create 125 agricultural lots, a golf course, and a hotel-like "100-unit members' hale" on 660 acres as close as 1,500 feet from Kealakekua Bay, which is a marine life conservation district.
Some members of the community reacted angrily when muddy storm water from Hokulia, an adjoining Anderson project, drifted into the bay.
The Sierra Club obtained a ruling from the state Land Use Commission that Pacific Star's Keopuka project was urban in nature, and therefore could not be built on the company's agricultural and conservation lands.
The Land Use Commission did not permit a court-like contested case hearing on the issue before making its ruling.
Pacific Star filed a suit in federal court against the state, saying the Land Use Commission's refusal to hold a contest case hearing violated its constitutional right to due process.
That suit is now being dropped, Frye said.
He noted the county government, which would ultimately give needed permits, has changed since the development was proposed.
Stephen Yamashiro, generally sympathetic to development, was mayor at the time. Current Mayor Harry Kim's administration has declared it will be more cautious in granting development approvals.