A proposed resort development in Punalu‘u is already making waves among residents planning a legal challenge against its construction.
The Windward Planning Commission today will discuss an application by developer Black Sand Beach LLC for a special management area permit that would allow it to build a roughly 225-unit “residential and commercial community” on a 147-acre parcel in Punalu‘u.
The Punalu‘u Village project, located makai of the Mamalahoa Highway, would restore several sites that have fallen into disuse — including the former Punalu‘u Restaurant, the Aspen Institute building and the 18-hole Sea Mountain Golf course — in an effort to revitalize the area.
It also would include an open market space, 63 condo units, a 15,000-square-foot wellness center (itself including 130 rental units, 80 cottages and 50 bungalows), and more.
The application estimates the total cost of the project could range between $200 million and $350 million, and that it could be completed within five years of receiving the necessary building permits.
Hawaii County Planning Director Zendo Kern in February issued a recommendation to grant the application, but the project already has attracted more than 100 letters of testimony from residents largely in opposition, with several seeking a contested case against the development.
Maxx Phillips, Hawaii Director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said her organization has filed for a contested case on behalf of several residents who live near the site. She said the project would be detrimental to local flora and fauna, as well as residents’ rights.
“This is not a small upgrade to what’s already there,” Phillips said. “This is a 225-unit development in an already very overloaded area. That’s going to have a huge impact on the species there.”
Phillips said human activity in the area already has had a negative impact on the sea turtles that frequent the Punalu‘u coast, and that a development drawing more tourism to the site would harm them even more.
Elsa Dedman, who is one of those residents who would be part of the contested case, said Black Sand Beach LLC has not been transparent with the community since purchasing the land in 2020. She added that since the purchase, the developer has not fixed or replaced any of the wastewater systems on the parcels.
“They’ll have to redo the entire wastewater treatment plant,” Dedman said, noting that such a project is not included in the application.
Furthermore, replacing the wastewater systems would presumably require an environmental assessment or impact statement, she said, but Kern’s recommendation in February stated the project does not meet state requirements for such reports.
Although the application states that Black Sand Beach President Eva Liu intends to “provide open and transparent lines of communication with the community” regarding the project, Dedman and Phillips said the developers have been anything but forthcoming. (For a statement from the developer, see related story on A1).
“It’s been like a shell game for the people down there,” Phillips said. “The community very much feels like they can’t trust these developers.”
That lack of trust was hammered home in the dozens and dozens of letters from residents urging the Planning Commission to deny the application.
“Often times community input was disregarded or misconstrued, and plans continued to change,” a working group of Punalu‘u residents said in a letter,
The letter went on to say the developers repeatedly presented renderings of the project but framed them as “schematics” and not true depictions of the project. “We believe that we cannot support something that is constantly changing and not being accurately portrayed.”
Other testifiers wrote that the failure of the Sea Mountain Resort — whose dilapidated facilities Black Sand Beach intends to restore — is an indication that such a development is a bad fit for the area.
“The previous development of the Sea Mountain Resort was a huge error from a time when aggressive and environmentally destructive development was prevalent, and that resort was also a huge business failure,” wrote Lillie Makaila. “It actively displaced native plants and animals, destroyed cultural sites, disturbed iwi kupuna, and caused adverse impacts to the environment. It did not fulfill any of the promises that were made for improved economy and life in Ka‘u, and this application follows suit.”
With so many residents scrutinizing the project, Phillips predicted today’s Planning Commission meeting will be “a party.”
“Hopefully, the Planning Commission shows up with clear eyes and shuts this down,” she said.
The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Hawaii County Building.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.