Time-share project OK'd for Waipouli

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A 196-unit time-share development will fill one of the last vacant beachfront parcels on the Kapa'a-to-Wailua coastline.

The Waipouli Beach Resort LLC project, whose manager is Chris Singleton of Kapa'a, recently received Kaua'i Planning Commission approval to develop 190 apartment and six hotel units on the 12.7-acre parcel.

Attorney Michael Belles said the developer plans to market all the apartment units as time-shares and to maintain the hotel units for regular use.

The property is a broad, rectangular parcel that runs from Kuhio Highway to the sea along the north edge of a canal, next to the Bullshed Restaurant. It lies across the highway from the two major shopping complexes in the Waipouli area.

Members of the public who spoke on the project cited traffic concerns as a major issue. Planning Commission approval will require expansion of the highway fronting the resort to four lanes, coordinating nearby traffic signals and moving a crosswalk to improve traffic.

The project will have four stories at its mauka side and two stories along the coast. A wedding chapel will sit atop a restaurant.

The site, where more than a dozen ancient human burials have been found, will include a one-acre cultural preserve for reburial of all remains.

The public will have access to the beach through the property, and developers are required to provide 10 parking stalls for beach users and the cultural reserve.

Belles said there will be a pedestrian easement running the entire perimeter of the property, and if the county develops a bicycle path along the coast, as Mayor Bryan Baptiste has proposed, Waipouli Beach Resort is required to provide access through the property for it.