By BRIAN PERRY
Staff Writer
WAILUKU -- Maui Planning Commission members balked Tuesday at approving a shoreline development plan for the Ka`anapali North Beach Venture.
The panel voted not to act without seeing findings of a contested case proceeding and getting independent legal advice.
The question of whether the county Department of Corporation Counsel can provide unbiased advice arises from an agreement giving Maui County an option to pay $15 million for a 33.8-acre park at North Beach, also known as Kekaa.
The pact, signed Sept. 22 by Mayor Linda Lingle and approved in form and legality by Corporation Counsel J.P. Schmidt, calls for the county immediately to fully support developer Amfac's application for special management area permit for the 280-unit Kaanapali Ocean Resort.
Maui County Council members will consider Monday whether the corporation counsel's office should recuse itself from advising the Planning Commission on North Beach and whether a private attorney should be hired to advise commissioners.
Wailuku resident Sally Raisbeck has filed a request for an advisory opinion with the Maui County Board of Ethics on whether the option agreement creates a conflict of interest for all county officials.
Commissioner Barbara Long said the option agreement puts the Planning Commission between ``a park and a hard place'' because the panel can no longer count on neutral advice from county attorneys.
``I have a humongous problem with not having an independent counsel,'' said commission member Moana Andersen. ``It is unfair and unethical . . . . It puts us -- if we were ants -- in a squishing position.
``You couldn't pay me to vote on this until all the facts are on the floor.''
This morning, Schmidt said the county's support for the project is in accordance with the law and doesn't differ from a Planning Department recommendation in favor of other, less-controversial projects.
The county's chief legal adviser said the administration's option agreement does not make the purchase of a county park at North Beach a done deal. The agreement recognizes the authority of the Planning Commission to rule on the project's SMA permit and it recognizes the council's authority to provide funding for the park's purchase.
The option pact terminates if either the Planning Commission or County Council refuse to act.
Schmidt said he sees no ethical problem with the administration's handling of the option agreement. The Department of the Corporation Counsel drafts other agreements, bills and resolutions and provides advice to council members and other county officials without a conflict of interest, he said.
Schmidt said the county's support of the North Beach project is contingent upon a reduction of density from 3,200 to 1,950 units.
The option agreement says the widening of Honoapiilani Highway from two to four lanes between Kaanapali Parkway and Lower Honoapiilani Road accommodates the time-share project's traffic impacts.
Schmidt said the county is withholding judgment on development of two other North Beach parcels slated for development of approximately 1,670 units. ``There could be further traffic mitigation to the two other parcels,'' he said.
The Amfac time-share development's special management area permit has been held up by a contested case proceeding.
Amfac has asked for an interpretation of a traffic provision in its 1988 special management area permit for its 3,200-unit North Beach development. Its SMA permit provides that no certificates of occupancy be issued to the developer until the Lahaina bypass highway is completed or other traffic mitigation is in place. A proposed alternate solution calls for widening Honoapiilani Highway.
Evidence was taken during two weeks in September and October, and a final ruling has not been made yet by hearings officer Joel August.
Planning Commission members' comments about the option agreement came at the end of a long discussion about a shoreline zone plan proposed by the Ka`anapali North Beach Joint Venture.
The plan addressed guidelines in what could be built within 150 feet of the shoreline. Basically, the plan calls for building only temporary structures, such as a wooden boardwalk, in the area and making provisions to protect sand dunes.
Shoreline expert Robert Mullane of the University of Hawaii's Sea Grant Extension Service said the joint venture's consultant, Oceanit Laboratories, reworked the plan, providing greater historical detail at more locations on the beach.
The study of the shoreline found the North Beach coast has advanced and retreated over 40 years, but, overall, it has eroded an average of 6 to 13 feet in 50 years.
Mullane said the area with the greatest amount of erosion is the beach at the northern parcel being eyed by the county as a park. It has eroded an average of 27 feet over 50 years or a little more than half a foot a year, he said.
Mullane said there's speculation that the greater amount of erosion on the northern portion of the property is caused by a sea wall at the Mahana resort.
Native Hawaiian activist Dana Naone Hall asked planning commissioners not to approve the shoreline plan because it doesn't address drainage.
Developers said the project's drainage plan is a separate issue to be taken up during its SMA permit approval.
Back to Top
Back To Psy 412 Home Page
Psy 412 Miami University. Last revised: Thursday, April 18, 2002 at 23:59:50. This document has been accessed 950 times since July 15, 1997. Comments & Questions to R. Sherman .