BREAKING NEWS!
Posted 2/20/2025
It Isn’t Over
Aloha Friends,
We appeared before Judge Valenciano today. Our Record of Facts in the legal papers filed, establish that we have been complaining about Pinkston’s development, his grubbing and grading on the site before a permit was ever issued, that a permit was finally issued in March 2022 after which he began subsurface blasting without prior biological clearance as the Land Use Commission condition of development required. We filed a complaint for injunctive relief to protect the species in May of 2022. We filed a complaint in 2023 because we new the grubbing and grading permit expired in March 2023 and there was no record of the permit being renewed. We wrote a letter to the Public Works Director in September 2023 asking that the grubbing and grading permit be revoked because it was not renewed before its one year anniversary in March 2023 and according to its terms had expired once the one year from issue had passed. Nothing was done by the developer until September 7, 2023 when the County accepted a late payment, did not require a renewal application as our County Ordinance calls for, but rather initially put the permit period as September 2023 to September 2024. On that very same permit the County must have realized that if those were the dates, there was nothing to renew in September because the permit had expired the prior March 2023. So, instead, they crossed through the September dates and they back dated the permit and changed the permit period to March 2023 to March 2024.
When we obtained all the documents that revealed what had been going on, without notice to the public, we requested a Contested Case. The County was slow to produce the documents and we had to request them more than once. We asked for the Contested Case because our civil engineer that reviewed these documents for FOM advised that the grading plan showed a massive amount of earth movement. There mass grading plan reports an intent to move 361 cubic yards or 351 tons which is 701,784 pounds of earth. Moving that quantity is a significant grading plan and the members of FOM had been complaining about the grading and the blasting since 2022. In their documents, the County did not dispute that grubbing and grading was being done before any permit was ever issued.
In spite of all this evidence, Judge Valenciano ruled that we didn’t ask for the Contested Case soon enough. He denied our request for Contested Case on the grounds of Latches, an unreasonable delay… this despite the acknowledgement that the public was never notified of when the permit issued or renewed until after the fact.
Our legal team did a great job in writing and in the argument today. We are forced to file another Appeal. Please keep us in mind when you donate. Our County is ready to hand over the keys to the island to developers with money and it doesn’t matter what they do. We took the Deposition of the engineer who signed off on the mass grading permit and he admitted that while he recommended the permit be approved he is not a licensed civil engineer. He testified that what he relied on was the fact that the permit application was properly filled out. The significant amount of soil to be removed and fill to be added was not independently evaluated and the impact to drainage and run off was not assessed by our County.
We feel it is imperative to pursue this further. Poipu and Waiohai beaches and our entire south shore are at risk when a large 280 unit luxury development is built without any real scrutiny by the County. Developers that come to Kauai usually have large amounts of money and it looks like we are going to be forced to Appeal another case to protect our environment. Please keep FOM in mind and make your tax deductible contributions when you can.
Mahalo nui,
Bridget Hammerquist, President
Friends of Maha`ulepu, a 501(c)(3)
Kia`i Wai o Wai`ale`ale, Co-founder
PO Box 1654
Koloa, HI 96756
Donate
friendsofmahaulepu.org
[email protected]
(808) 742-1037 home
(808) 346-1973 cell
Posted 2/19/2025
If you have the time, we have a second part of a hearing before the Honorable Judge Randall G. B. Valenciano tomorrow at 1:00 pm regarding the county’s refusal to allow FOM to have the Contested Case Hearing they requested one year ago regarding Gary Pinkston and Meridian Pacific’s grubbing and grading permit. The permit was initially issued by the County without the contractors compliance with Land Use Commission condition 7 that required a biological survey and clearance of the property for the blind cave spider and blind amphipod, both endangered species known to be present in the area. The Land Use Commission specifically required that that clearance be obtained prior to any “ground disturbing activity”.
The Land Use Commission established conditions of development when the developers asked that more than 500 acres of Kiahuna be rezoned from Ag to Urban. The Kiahuna property immediately adjacent to Pinkston’s 28 acres on which he plans to build 280 multi-million dollar luxury condos is in fact a declared habitat area registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and US Fish and Wildlife. According to the Land Use Commission, the Kiahuna property Pinkston began developing without the required clearance, is home/habitat to at least six threatened or endangered species.
The Court tomorrow will decide whether or not our request for a contested case should have been
Aloha!
Humpback whales are often seen breaching off the shores of Maha’ulepu during the winter months.
Friends of Maha’ulepu is comprised of a group of concerned citizens (local and beyond) who are contributing their time and talents to protect the natural beauty of this pristine coastal valley.
Maha’ulepu Beach is located on the South Shore of the Island of Kaua’i in the Hawaiian Islands, approximately 3 1/2 miles northeast of the town of Poi’pu. Poi’pu is one of the major visitor destinations on the island due to it’s beautiful beaches, swimming, snorkeling and surfing, sea turtles, whales, monk seals, trade winds, palm trees, and spectacular sunsets. Learn more about Friends of Maha’ulepu and the work we are doing!
