Stop Oahu North Shore Development Judges Asked to Stop Development on Oahu's North Shore

CNNMONEY.com

April 10, 2008

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - In an effort to stop long-planned hotels and condos from being built on Oahu's North Shore, conservation groups asked an appeals court Wednesday to step in.

Opponents of the Turtle Bay resort development say the 3,500-unit expansion would destroy the North Shore's largely rural character, add traffic congestion and threaten endangered sea turtles and monk seals.

The project was approved in 1986, but critics want the judges to stall the project by ordering a new environmental study since so much time has passed.

"People don't come to Hawaii to see buildings. They come here to see the environment and the beaches," said Gil Riviere of Keep the North Shore Country, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit.

The outcome of the case could affect Gov. Linda Lingle's idea of buying parts or all of the 850-acre resort area with taxpayer money and setting its lands aside for preservation.

If the Intermediate Court of Appeals allows Kuilima Resort Co. to proceed with its development of the area, the property would gain value and make a government purchase less likely, said attorney Marco Gonzalez, representing the plaintiffs, whose lawsuit was originally dismissed in 2006.

A lawyer for Kuilima Resort Co. argued that the resort has already cleared its legal hurdles to expand and shouldn't have to submit to another environmental study.

"The North Shore has changed less than anything on this island," said attorney Sharon Lovejoy. "There's nothing new and different about traffic that wasn't considered and predicted."

The Turtle Bay area currently only has one hotel with less than 500 units that was built in 1972.

After the expansion got the go-ahead 22 years ago, the resort's then-owners never followed through with the development plans because it lacked money.

Oaktree Capital Management, a multibillion-dollar investment company, bought the property in 1998 and set up Kuilima Resort Co. to revive the development.

But the resort has been looking for a buyer or a development partner since June 2006 to help finance the expansion. The company is now facing foreclosure by its international lender, Credit Suisse, after it failed to make a $685,500 payment on a $275 million loan.

"For anybody who has ever been to the North Shore to claim that conditions are the same today as they were in 2000, it is an absurdity," Gonzalez said.

The three-judge court will deliberate on the case before making a ruling.

Any decision will likely be appealed to the Hawaii Supreme Court.

About Coast Law Group

Coast Law Group LLP is a community-conscious law firm which provides innovative solutions to best achieve clients’ goals and objectives.  To learn more about the firm and its broad range of legal services, log on to www.coastlawgroup.com.

COAST LAW GROUP LLP

169 Saxony Rd., Ste. 204

Encinitas, CA 92024

(760) 942-8505