The Board of Land and Natural Resources postponed action on a series of redevelopment proposals for a pair of sites on Banyan Drive after a lawsuit demanded that two of those proposals be withdrawn.
The agenda for the Sept. 24 BLNR meeting included two items wherein the board would decide whether to approve a Department of Land and Natural Resources evaluation committee’s recommendation to pursue a pair of proposals by Tower Development Inc. for redevelopment projects at Uncle Billy’s Hilo Bay Hotel and the former Country Club Condominium Hotel.
However, BLNR chair Suzanne Case said at the Sept. 24 meeting that those items had been withdrawn. According to a DLNR statement, they will be discussed at a future meeting.
Case disclosed no particular reason for the items’ withdrawal Sept. 24.
However, earlier in the week, the two proposals recommended by the evaluation committee were the subject of a lawsuit filed by a partner of Tower, accusing two of Tower’s executive officers of violating a non-compete agreement by pursuing the Banyan Drive projects without the knowledge or consent of their business partners.
That lawsuit urged the Third Circuit Court to order Tower to halt any further action on the Uncle Billy’s or Country Club projects.
None of the relevant parties to the lawsuit appeared at Sept. 24 meeting.