Turtle Bay Resort Conservation and Unilateral Development Agreements
Turtle Bay Resort has been sold to two development and hotel groups
Blackstone Real Estate has sold the Turtle Bay Resort to Host Hotels & Resorts after recently selling 65 acres in a separate transaction to Areté Collective. The hotel has been re-branded as a Ritz Carlton and the Host Group retains interests for future construction of 375 time share units on the H1 hotel site west of the existing hotel.
Areté purchased land and interests to develop 100 resort residential units on RR3, the coastal land in the Kahuku Point direction. They are moving forward with plans to construct the first four of 19 multi-unit condo buildings. Areté also own the land and interests for a 250 unit condo hotel on hotel site H2, and a parcel near the 18th green where they may build a new golf clubhouse.
The total number of new resort units that can be built is 725, as stipulated in the landmark conservation agreement which reduced development rights by 80 percent. In 1986, the owners entered into a Unilateral Agreement (UA) with the City and County of Honolulu to build five new hotels and thousands of resort condominiums, totaling 3500 units, from Kawela Bay to Kahuku Point.
After our successful Supreme Court victory regarding the antiquated 20 year old Environmental Impact Statement, our challenge to the developer's Supplemental EIS, a foreclosure from Oaktree Development, productive community engagement from Replay Resorts, a multimillion dollar agreement with the State of Hawaii and C&C of Honolulu and US Army, the settlement of our, and Sierra Club's, legal claims, the conservation deal reversed a terrible, outdated development plan from decades earlier.
Out of these agreements, all of the undeveloped land a Kawela Bay will be either city or state land, development is prohibited on nearly 700 acres of land, the North Shore Community Land Trust began its excellent conservation work at Kahuku Point, the Kahuku High Golf team is guaranteed privileges and all original UA commitments remain.
What is not yet resolved is how to update the obsolete Unilateral Agreement, which of the two companies is responsible for fulfilling the commitments of the UA, and exactly what combination of resort units may get built.
Turbine Setbacks Case at Intermediate Court
The Supreme Court Rules Against Our HCP Challenge
Na Pua Makani Turbine Setbacks
KNSC and Kahuku Community Association are challenging illegal approvals by the Department of Planning and Permitting's (DPP) that allowed two turbines to be constructed within the minimum property setback. Our appeal is still before the Intermediate Court of Appeals. (8/29/24)
The Zoning Board of Appeals and Circuit Court both ruled that our appeal was filed too late and refused to consider the illegality of DPP's decision. The setback waiver was done ministerially and never publicly announced. Nobody except the developer and the DPP knew about the decision, so how could a 30 day limit to appeal be valid? We cannot believe the law requires interested parties to know, in advance, that the city is about to do something illegal and to formally request to be informed if they do.
We learned about these decisions in December 2019 and requested a contested case. The City approved construction of 568' tall turbines as close as 275' from a property line, even though the law requires a minimum setback of one foot for every foot of height and the law does not allow exceptions to the minimum requirements.
The basic questions, "Did the City violate the law?" and "What should be done to correct the violation?" are yet to be answered.
The massive turbines should never have been built so close to Kahuku.
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Please help Keep the North Shore Country meet the expenses of pursuing a vigorous presentation of the facts. Expenses include legal fees, discovery, expert depositions, extensive copying fees, etc.
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On February 22, 2022, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled against our challenge of Na Pua Makani's Habitat Conservation Plan.
Here is our statement on the ruling.
We welcome donations to help pay our outstanding legal team for taking this case
to the Supreme Court, and for challenging the illegal setbacks of the massive turbines.
To preserve, protect and enhance the heritage and rural character of the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in partnership with communities from Kaena Point to Kahaluu.
Keep the North Shore Country (KNSC), in partnership with Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, dozens of communities and organizations and, ultimately, Turtle Bay Resort (TBR), the State of Hawaii, the City and County of Honolulu, the US Army, the Trust for Public Land (TPL), and the North Shore Community Land Trust (NSCLT) successfully altered a massive development plan into more than 1100 acres of coastal and agricultural land conservation, preservation of Kawela Bay and improved environmental stewardship at Kahuku Point.
In 2015, KNSC negotiated a settlement with TBR, whereby the resort would complete the conservation agreement, provide $200,000 over five years to NSCLT for conservation projects at Kahuku Point and allow KNSC first right to conservation of other valuable shoreline lands owned by the resort.
We continue to work with the other parties to increase land conservation and to follow our mission: To preserve and enhance the heritage and rural character of the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in partnership with communities from Kaena Point to Kahaluu.
© 2021 by Keep the North Shore Country