KAILUA-KONA — A draft environmental impact statement connected to the master plan for Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park — an area in South Kona the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and its Division of State Parks have been trying to develop for more than three decades — has been released.
Published on March 8, the 45-day public comment period connected to the 800-plus page document expires April 23. The draft EIS can be accessed at https://bit.ly/2pHsEtp.
In the project summary, the report refers to the 537-acre park, 315 acres of which are comprised of ocean, as “largely undeveloped.” Belt Collins Hawaii LLC, which compiled the document, says several measures within the proposed action to increase access to the area, add facilities, improve safety and protect the region’s natural and cultural resources can be accomplished with minimal investment.
The proposed funding would include capital improvements to the tune of $2.4 million, with an increase in operational costs to roughly $500,000 annually once all elements of the action are implemented.
Much of the initial investment would be earmarked for the Napoopoo section of the park and create, among other things, a new entry, parking lot, restroom, interpretive center and trail.
A waterless toilet, signage, shelter and landing zone are also planned at Kaawaloa, while navigational aids and buoys would be employed in the bay to protect spinner dolphin resting zones, demarcate a swim-snorkel zone in which power boats would not be allowed, and to mark rock fall zones.
Other elements of the proposed action include installation of a helicopter landing zone for emergency use and permitting processes for commercial kayak rental and tour guide operators, as well as several others.
Once the proposed action is fully implemented, staffing the park would cost around $244,000 every year, while maintenance, enforcement and surveys and interpretation are projected to produce a combined cost just shy of $232,000 annually.
The first plans for the park were developed in 1985 and a conceptual master plan was set forth by Belt Collins in 1997.
Gordon Leslie, a resident of Napoopoo Village and a member of a volunteer/community advisory group called Hoala Kealakekua that works to restore the area, has opposed development plans in the past.
He was part of a lawsuit that halted an attempt to implement the initial phase of Belt Collins’ 1997 master plan for the park after asserting the DLNR failed to follow the appropriate environmental review protocol.
“This plan has been the most sensible of all the plans,” said Leslie, who stopped short of offering the current proposed action his endorsement. “We’re not opposing it at this time, we just got to see what comes out in the wash. I can say this, they have downsized the project considerably from what it used to be.”
Leslie said perhaps the most pressing infrastructure issue that must be addressed is parking, adding the community there has been and continues to be concerned with the target numbers of visitors the state hopes to draw to the bay through development, which has stretched into the seven figures.
The public parking area in the Napoopoo section of the park would include 60 stalls and ease roadside parking problems on Lower Napoopoo Road.
Another concern is protection and enhancement of the area’s significant cultural and historical sites. Kealakekua Bay was home to several Hawaiian chiefs in the 17th and 18th centuries and was significantly associated with Kamehameha’s ascent to prominence.
The site was also significant in the context of early contact with the Western world. The earliest written accounts of Hawaiian culture originate in the bay via the crew of Captain James Cook, for whom it supports a monument.
Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park was established in 1967 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Leslie said that every third Saturday for the last two years, Hoala Kealakekua has been conducting a cleanup of the bay by removing invasive vegetation.
“By doing that, we have exposed a lot of very important archaeological sites,” he said. “Whatever plan the state picks, there are certain things in creating this park in Kealakekua Bay that will have to be done the same way, and those are to clean and maintain these archaeological sites.”
Proposed actions mentioned in the draft EIS specifically note restoring the cultural landscape in a similar fashion.
The commencement of the project would depend on state funding, but planners have suggested elements could be prioritized and introduced incrementally.
Installation of the waterless toilet at Kaawaloa and the aforementioned restoration efforts, for instance, could be initiated prior to the conclusion of the environmental review and permitting processes.
Those who wish to submit comments are asked to do so by contacting the accepting authority for the Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park master plan, which is the office of Governor David Ige. Anyone submitting comments is also asked to copy the proposing agency, the DLNR, and the consultant, Belt Collins Hawaii LLC, in the communication.
Email addresses and physical addresses for these entities may be found by way of the link to the master plan included in this article.