Developer given reprieve before classification reverts
Developer DW Aina Lea, which is in the process of purchasing the former Bridge Aina Lea land in South Kohala, near the Mauna Lani Resort, successfully petitioned the commission to delay action on reverting the land classification from urban back to agricultural at a hearing on Oahu.
Commissioners, at an April hearing in Waikoloa, asked representatives of Bridge Aina Lea for proof that it could meet a November 2010 deadline to construct 385 affordable homes at the development site. Bridge attorneys attempted to argue that now that a sale had been completed, DW Aina Lea representatives could present information about development progress. Commissioners rejected the argument and voted unanimously to revert the classification.
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"They basically said they would put their action on hold and allow time for us to present how we can get this done," DW Aina Lea Managing Partner Robert Wessels said.
The commission will schedule an update hearing for sometime in August, he added. He was not certain on which island that meeting would be.
Wessels did not know exactly when island residents would see work begin at the site.
"We are moving very fast to get those permits," he said. "We feel like we'll have that fairly soon."
Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd previously told West Hawaii Today she supported giving developers another chance to make the construction deadline. She told the commission in April that she believed the urban classification was a good fit for the property, which is lava rocks and not suitable for agriculture.
The commission set the 2010 deadline in 2005. At the time, Bridge Aina Lea representatives said they could complete construction in less than five years, but promised to meet the deadline.
DW Aina Lea has received subdivision approval for a portion of the property, something Bridge representatives repeatedly told commissioners was slowing their progress.
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