Big Isle hearing to focus
on planned developmentSingle-family homes are intended
for the 488-acre project
KEAUHOU-KONA >> A 488-acre residential and golf development proposal south of Kailua-Kona by Kamehameha Investment Corp., the for-profit development company of Kamehameha Schools, will be the subject of a public hearing at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel.
The acreage is the last undeveloped area within Kamehameha Investment's 2,368-acre Keauhou Resort Community, under development for 40 years. The sloping hillside is "thickly infested in places with alien vegetation," a company report says.
In January, Kamehameha announced plans for $800 million of investment in the resort over 20 years, including condominiums, a hotel, commercial development and a cultural center.
But in the 488 acres, a mile inland from the shoreline, the intent was always to develop lots for single-family homes, expected to number up to 400, said company vice president Francis Kauhane. He had no estimate of the development cost for just that area.
The problem was how to design the project in the light of Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra's ruling last year that the upscale Hokulia project further south was illegally constructed because the land there is designated agricultural.
Kamehameha's 488 acres are also designated as agricultural. The company could have asked the Land Use Commission for urban redesignation, but the result would have been high densities, Kauhane said.
Instead, the company is asking for "rural" designation, which will allow lots from one-half to 2 acres. Lot prices are expected to range from $500,000 to $1.2 million, which is not as expensive as Hokulia.
A problem with the "rural" solution is that golf courses are not allowed in such areas, although Kamehameha already has approval from Hawaii County for a new golf course under the current agricultural designation.
The solution may be to separate 170 acres for a golf course from the 488 acres and leave the golf area in agricultural designation, said Kamehameha attorney Ben Tsukazaki.
Another potential problem is traffic. State Transportation Director Rodney Haraga warned that Kamehameha officials seem to assume that highway improvements will be completed in time for the project.
"That is an unlikely assumption," Haraga said.
County of Hawaii
www.hawaii-county.com
