Developer seeks
interim plan1250 Oceanside Partners
asks the court for time to
produce a proposal for its
stalled Hokulia project
The developer of Hokulia, the luxury residential complex south of Kona, filed a response in state Circuit Court yesterday to a Sept. 12 ruling by Big Island Judge Ronald Ibarra barring the company from continuing any further construction or development of its project.
The major issue behind the case is whether the developer has been in compliance with state land use law. 1250 Oceanside Partners was sued by Walter John Kelly and several other individuals. The case also was joined by the Protect Keopuka Ohana. The group includes descendants of Hawaiians buried on the project site.
In his ruling, Judge Ibarra found that Hokulia is not an agricultural development but rather a luxury development.
Developer 1250 Oceanside Partners is now asking that it be given time to come up with an interim plan to address the ruling.
"We did propose a date of Nov. 1 by which we could have responses in the form of suggestions on how these issues might be solvable," said Dick Frye, vice president of The Lyle Anderson Co. Inc., parent company of 1250 Oceanside Partners.
Last week, Lyle Anderson, chairman of the company that bears his name, said about 150 employees would be let go in a month if the project is not allowed to proceed.
Frye said the company wants to sit down with various stakeholders involved in the case during that period to try to reach some solutions to issues raised in the judge's ruling. The company would then submit those proposed solutions to the court, Frye said.
The company also asked that it be allowed to continue with some infrastructure-related construction which it said is almost complete. It also asked that the owners of three homes already under construction be allowed to continue work on their homes.
"We are asking for them (the owners) to proceed on their houses. They won't be finished, but it will stop them from getting back charges from contractors and those kinds of things," Frye said.
The developer is also considering whether to prepare an application or ask for a ruling from the state Land Use Commission.
In his ruling, Judge Ibarra said the company must either seek LUC reclassification from its current agricultural designation or obtain a declaratory ruling from the LUC regarding any changes to the entire project since the commission's last ruling.
"It may be that we can ask for some kind of a declaratory ruling, but we're not clear on what that would be so we are exploring that," Frye said.
