KAILUA-KONA — The Leeward Planning Commission Thursday voted to give a local developer 10 more years to complete the first phase of a 289-unit development in North Kona.
The decision, which commissioners unanimously approved, gives Sunstone Kona LLC 10 years to build at least 24 units on a parcel of land between Alii Drive and Kuakini Highway, about 1,100 feet south of the Alii Drive-Lunapule Road intersection and also requires the developer to finish the development within 20 years.
About a half-dozen area residents spoke out in opposition to the development at Thursday’s meeting, raising concerns about issues like flooding risks, impacts to traffic and effects on threatened or endangered species.
Sunstone’s manager and an attorney representing the company though referenced mitigation steps already incorporated into the plan to address flooding and traffic concerns and noted that two separate environmental assessments for nearby projects reported no sightings of species like the Hawaiian hawk or Hawaiian hoary bat.
The developers’ responses didn’t alleviate opponents’ concerns though, with one resident, Sharon Willeford, saying after the meeting she was “very frustrated” with the outcome.
“Many of us feel there should be a moratorium on development,” she said, saying more attention should be paid to improving infrastructure like local county roads and addressing issues like homelessness.
The special management area permit tied to the development was originally issued in 2007 and allowed for the development of about 289 multiple-family residential units and related improvements on about 46 acres.
One condition of that permit required the project’s first phase, representing 24 units, be completed by May 15 of this year, according to the Planning Department’s presentation to the commission. Development of the remaining phases two through six would take place based on market demand.
But phase one’s development was delayed by the preparation of the county’s North Kona Flood Study, which itself took nearly a decade to complete and have approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The county’s planning director recommended approval of the 10-year extension, but also recommended a 20-year deadline for the developer to complete all six phases, which the commission approved.
Sunstone Kona LLC manager Curt DeWeese said there is still at least a year’s worth of discussions with FEMA on the horizon and then county processes to follow, saying the development is “probably two years to three years before we can actually start to go vertical.”
“And then, we’re hopeful that the economy and the volcano and everyone is cooperating,” he said.
Willeford, who has lived in Kona for the past 40 years, also raised the issue of traffic among her objections to the development, saying she is often sitting in traffic for as long as half an hour on Alii Drive near the development site.
As a condition of its permit, Sunstone Kona LLC is required to build a mauka-makai roadway connecting Alii Drive and Kuakini Highway. Planning Department staff also said during the meeting that the company has paid the county a per-acre fee for the Kahului to Keauhou Parkway improvements, the right-of-way of which runs through the parcel, and Waiaha Drainageway improvements.