The Leeward Planning Commission will be addressing applications for two developments less than a block apart at the Dec. 21 meeting in Kona.
Phil Tinguely, managing member of Walua Partners, LLC and President of Tinguely Development is applying for a Special Management Area Use Permit to develop 18 multiple-family residential vacation units in two two-story townhouse buildings, and three one- story duplex buildings on Walua Road, approximately 600 feet southeast of its intersection with Alii Drive next to Kona Mansions. The complex would also include three private pools, an office building, and related development.
The three acre parcel is situated in the Special Management Area defined by the planning department as requiring “special controls on developments within an area along the shoreline are necessary to avoid permanent losses of valuable resources and the foreclosure of management options, and to ensure that adequate access, by dedication or other means, to public owned or used beaches, recreation areas, and natural reserves is provided.”
Another application for a Special Management Area Use Permit is an attempt to jumpstart a project that has been through several owners, various designs and multiple extensions.
Kona Hawaii Development, LLC is applying for a SMA use permit to develop a 100-room hotel using a partially completed foundation structure on a 1. 76- acre parcel situated in the Special Management Area. The parcel is on the makai side of Alii Drive north of the Kona Reef and south of the Royal Kona Resort. The property owner is listed as DPM Acquisitions, whose controlling company is Diamond Resorts International out of Las Vegas. Kona Hawaii Development, based out of Colorado registered to do business in Hawaii in May.
The county first issued a SMA permit for a 48 unit condo project at the site in 1998, but delays in development, numerous five year extensions and change of ownership stalled the project.
Work on a proposed condominium project began in 2007 by Pacific Monarch Resorts at the site that previously held a miniature golf course and drive-in restaurant.
However, construction stalled after the underground parking, foundation pad and water supply were installed by the developer and are still visible today. Pacific Monarch filed for bankruptcy and in 2013 Diamond Resorts acquired their assets, including the Alii Drive property. There have been multiple revisions and redesigns of the project including addition of a retail area, later taken out of the design.
In 2020 the Leeward Planning Commission approved a fourth-five year extension for the project. With a new developer on board and the change of plans from a 48 unit condo project to a 100 unit hotel, a new Special Management Area Use Permit must be obtained.
The meeting will take place at 9:30 a.m. at the West Hawaii Civic Center
The public may provide written testimony via email at LPCtestimony@hawaiicounty.gov or submitted at the Hilo or Kona Planning Department.
The public may also provide verbal testimony at the meeting via Zoom or at the in-person location. To testify via Zoom, register online no later than noon on the day prior to the meeting.