Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Sierra Club
challenges proposed
South Kona development

---

By Frankie Stapleton
Special to the Star-Bulletin

HILO -- The Sierra Club has petitioned the state Land Use Commission to hold a public hearing on a proposed development in South Kona near Kealakekua Bay.

David Kimo Frankel, chairman of the Big Island chapter of the Sierra Club, said last night the 660-acre Keopuka Lands development proposed by Pacific Star LLC is not compatible with agricultural classification.

Hawaii County Planning Commission is currently considering a proposal by Pacific Star to build a gated 125-unit subdivision, 18-hole golf course and hotel.

Pacific Star is owned by Arizona-based Lyle Anderson, developer of the controversial Oceanside 1250 luxury project now named Hokuli'a. The latest development would abut Hokuli'a on the north and its southern boundary would be within a quarter mile of the Captain Cook Monument on Kealakekua Bay.

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission has extended its deadline to Oct. 5 for public comment on the draft environmental impact statement for the Keopuka Lands development.

Frankel said more than 1,400 Big Island residents have signed postcards objecting to the Keopuka Lands proposal.

"The public has clearly demonstrated its overwhelming opposition to development near Kealakekua Bay," Frankel said.

The impact of the project on the marine life, cultural sites, water quality and coastal wilderness of Kealakekua Bay have been inadequately addressed in the draft environmental impact statement, according to the Sierra Club official.

Frankel said the developer is attempting to portray the development as agricultural to avoid Land Use Commission review and obtain quick county approval.