More than two years after the County Council approved a public access trail as a condition for allowing development of a luxury subdivision, council members learned Tuesday the deal is not finalized.
At issue are three easements proposed by developers Kohala Kai LLC, who plan seven oceanfront lots ranging in size from 5 to 28 acres on a 63-acre tract north of Kawaihae Harbor and just south of Keawewai Gulch in North Kohala. The lots are expected to be sold for $4 million and up.
One easement provides public access to the ocean via Ala Kahakai trail. Another seeks to protect a portion of the Ala Loa trail that traverses the property. And a third is a conservation easement to protect the property between the development and the ocean.
The issue was brought before the council Planning Committee at the request of Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille.
“This resolution does set a precedent for how things will be done in the future,” Wille said.
While some council members wondered why the agreements protecting the property are taking so long, others understood such negotiations take time, especially when state and federal bureaucracies are involved.
“This process can’t happen overnight,” said Hilo Councilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, who apologized to developer Charles Anderson and Aric Arakaki, who supervises the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail for the National Park Service.
Onishi said he was sorry the council was wasting their time.
North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff was glad the status update was put on the agenda.
“The community had some major concerns,” Eoff said.
Several members of the public, meanwhile, sought assurances that the historic Ala Loa trail would continue to be preserved and accessible to the public and not be substituted by the Ala Kahakai trail.
Charles Flaherty said the Ala Loa trail was recognized as a public road by the 1892 Public Highway Act.
“I don’t think it’s right. … There should be access to the Ala Loa from the road as well,” said Jojo Tanedo. “This might set a precedent for other subdivision planning as well.”
Previous council action accepted a public easement allowing for a public trail from Akoni Pule Highway to the shoreline and a lateral trail along the ocean, but it did not take into account the Ala Loa trail, thought to follow a jeep road that runs through the property.
Arakaki told the council committee delays happened while the developer decided who should best hold the easement, the Park Service or the nonprofit Ala Kahakai Trail Association.
“We are highly motivated to negotiate an easement,” Arakaki said.
A last-minute good-faith agreement between developers and the National Park Service and a verbal agreement with the council were supposed to preserve public access, developer’s representative Steven Lim told the council in early 2014. The agreement includes adding deed covenants on the lots, imposing at least a 10-foot buffer from the trail.
“This is a voluntary action separate and apart,” Lim told the council at the time.
Anderson assured the committee Tuesday that the historic and cultural sites are in good hands.
He said the Ala Loa trail is protected by an archaeological easement that was filed with the state Land Court earlier this year.
“Everything was approved by the State Historic Preservation Division,” Anderson said.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
