County Council votes against request by developers for extension for Kona Vistas

A 10-year extension for a controversial West Hawaii housing development to complete construction has once again been rejected, this time by the Hawaii County Council on Wednesday.

The Kona Vistas subdivision began development in 1984 on Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway in Holualoa, with plans at the time for a second phase that would add a 450-unit multifamily housing project on an adjacent 69-acre parcel.

Plans for that phase have lingered even as the developers changed, with companies KV3 LLC and Kona Three LLC purchasing the land in 2015 with the intention to complete the project. Despite this, little progress has been made, and the developers in 2022 requested a 10-year extension from the county.

A council committee recommended in June that the extension be denied, with residents speaking for hours about the project’s insuitability for the area. That recommendation came before the full council on Wednesday, where members were tasked with deciding whether to approve the extension.

Once again, residents urged the council to reject the project. Community members cited environmental concerns about the area’s location within a flood zone, particularly after the area experienced floods in 2023.

“Development is in a floodplain, with the applicant intending to place the lowest-income area at the bottom of the runoff,” wrote Cindy Freitas.

Several testifiers suggested that flood maps for the area should be updated, particularly as the impacts of climate change become increasingly more apparent.

Others mentioned that the area’s infrastructure already is overtaxed by existing users, and that if the 450 units of multifamily housing came online without corresponding upgrades, then roads, wastewater systems, medical facilities and more could be overwhelmed.

“I live on Kilohana Street (less than a mile south of the project parcel), and believe me, we have enough traffic on the highway at any time of day,” wrote Margaret Spitler. “And with the water in short supply, we also do not need to add any other residences in the area.”

Still others noted that the area is dense with historical and cultural landmarks. The remnants of a holua slide — a course used by Hawaiians to bring large logs down the mountain to carve them into voyaging canoes — have been found on the project site.

While the developers did not appear at Wednesday’s meeting, planning consultant Daryn Arai requested that the council postpone its decision until a later date as the developers considered other courses of action. Arai said doing so would be courteous and a sign of good faith.

But Kona Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas disagreed, saying that postponing the matter will be discourteous to the two new recently elected council members who will have to be introduced to the issue for the first time.

“After all this work, all our due diligence, it would be discourteous to this body to ask us to postpone,” Villegas said.

Villegas even moved to accelerate the vote without discussion, nearly cutting off a presentation by Arai about the project, but that motion failed to pass.

Nonetheless, the matter was not popular among other council members. Only South Kona Councilwoman Michelle Galimba ultimately voted in support of the extension.

“Housing is housing,” Galimba said, arguing that issues like the flood-prone area can be safely mitigated with smart construction practices.

The matter will come before the council once more for a second and final reading.

Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.