Kahaluu contested case to resume

KAILUA-KONA — The Kahaluu woman intervening in a proposal to build a 306-unit condominium in Kahaluu will continue to question witnesses at an upcoming hearing Monday, saying her concerns about the project haven’t been sufficiently addressed.

The proposal from Towne Development of Hawaii Inc., would develop the project on a 42-acre property mauka of Alii Drive in Kahaluu. That property is owned by Kamehameha Investment Corp. and is zoned for resort, multi-family residential and single-family residential uses, according to the final environmental assessment for the project.

The units are currently proposed to be developed and sold as timeshare units but may be sold as whole units depending on conditions of the market, according to the assessment.

In April 2016, the Leeward Planning Commission granted a petition for a contested case hearing from Kahaluu resident Simmy McMichael during a packed hearing in which many residents sought to discourage the commission from granting the special management area permit needed for the project to move ahead.

McMichael and others raised concerns about historical sites and features at the site as well as pressure increased development would have on traffic, especially on Alii Drive, public utilities and Kahaluu Bay waters.

The contested case hearing arising from that petition ran for two days in April, where McMichael questioned an array of experts whose studies and research contributed to a 2015 final environmental assessment. That document concluded the project “will not have significant environmental effect,” considering impacts to traffic, coastal waters and historical sites among others.

Numerous residents also testified at those hearings, with many speaking out about the importance of preserving the area and restricting future development.

The hearing will continue Monday at the West Hawaii Civic Center’s council chambers, starting at 8 a.m., according to a notice published by the commission.

McMichael said she expects to cross-examine hydrologist Tom Nance and planning director Michael Yee, saying testimony presented at the first two days of the hearing hasn’t adequately answered her concerns about the project.

“My question is, ‘Where do you get to a point where you say everything is fine, when everything is not fine,’” she said. “I want justification on how you think it is fine when it really isn’t.”

Among her outstanding concerns are the development’s impact to groundwater resources in the area.

Previously, McMichael brought up the issue of groundwater and public health while questioning Steven Dollar, who studied the marine environment at the site of the proposed project.

Dollar said at the hearing that those issues were outside the scope of what his research is designed to measure, telling McMichael she should pose those questions to Nance, a hydrologist.

McMichael said she plans to do exactly that on Monday, adding that she believes some data cited in the environmental assessment is too old to be reliable.

“He has to answer to these questions,” she said. “How does the runoff, how does the groundwater, how does this project affect Kahaluu Beach and the waters? The water is a main concern for us.”

The final environmental assessment prepared for the project explored groundwater impacts, concluding, “groundwater and marine water quality will remain high and will not be materially affected by the project.”