Earlier this year, Mayor Billy Kenoi told a group of business leaders he was working on a plan to improve Hilo’s dilapidated Banyan Drive area.
Earlier this year, Mayor Billy Kenoi told a group of business leaders he was working on a plan to improve Hilo’s dilapidated Banyan Drive area.
As for what it is, he and his staff have chosen to remain silent.
In late March, Kenoi told those gathered at a meeting of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii that the Banyan area is in need of urgent attention. He said that within a couple of weeks he expected to announce a new arrangement with the state, which manages the area and its leases.
Three months later, no details.
“At this time … we are still working on it and do not have any substantive information to share,” County Managing Director Wally Lau wrote in an email Friday.
The Tribune-Herald repeatedly has inquired about the plan since early April. After initially indicating he would provide an update April 8, Peter Boylan, a spokesman for Kenoi who resigned from the position earlier this month, said it is a “complex issue” with a lot of moving parts.
Asked again later that month, Boylan wrote, “What I am getting is we are not solid on our solution yet and need more time to work it out with (the) state.”
In January, lawmakers introduced companion bills aimed at establishing an advisory committee to examine the barriers hindering the redevelopment of visitor facilities and infrastructure in the Banyan Drive area, on the Waiakea Peninsula.
Rep. Mark Nakashima, D-Hamakua, Hilo, said the reason House Bill 708, which he co-introduced, never received a hearing is because Kenoi indicated he wanted to take the lead on the effort.
“We did not push for (House Bill) 708 to be heard,” Nakashima said.
Nakashima added there is a state law that allows for counties to re-institute redevelopment plans, and that his understanding is Kenoi has been exploring that option.
“We are working together on trying to resolve the issue,” Nakashima said.
During the March 23 meeting of the Japanese chamber, Kenoi said he had been in meetings with state officials and that an expected arrangement would give the county more of a say in how the Banyan area is managed.
“This is too important an issue for us to say, ‘state, not us.’ … We should not have lodging as an excuse not to increase our visitor market,” Kenoi said at the meeting. “I think we’ve waited long enough. It’s time to assert our authority … our voice.”
Darren Nishioka, president of the Japanese chamber, said the organization has not received any additional information since its meeting in March.
State Sen. Lorraine Inouye, D-Hilo, has made clear she is not in favor of transferring ownership of the land away from the DLNR.
“I don’t know what the mayor has in mind,” she said. “However, let me tell you at the outset, I don’t think in any way we will allow a transfer of land or allow the county to manage Banyan Drive.”
Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the DLNR, confirmed the department has been in conversations with the county concerning Banyan Drive, but is not aware of what Kenoi is planning or what he meant by “an announcement.”
In 2013, via bills in the Legislature, Hawaii County sought ownership — or at least control — of the Banyan Drive hotel properties and the Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area, but state lawmakers decided against both ideas. At that time, Kenoi said he thought the county could better manage or use them, noting particular concern for Banyan Drive.
In February, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved a pair of one-year lease extensions set to expire in March for Uncle Billy’s Hilo Hotel and the Country Club condominiums.
Email Chris D’Angelo at cdangelo@hawaiitribune-herald.com.