Hokuli'a developers want ruling suspended

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

Lawyers for developer 1250 Oceanside Partners filed motions in Kona yesterday asking Judge Ronald Ibarra to stay or vacate his ruling that almost all work must stop on the Hokuli'a luxury housing project.

One motion asks Ibarra to stay his ruling while the developer appeals to the state Supreme Court.

The ruling will cause "substantial and irreparable harm" to the developer and the Kona community, Hokuli'a's employees and lot owners in the subdivision, according to the filing. Another motion asks Ibarra to give the developer until Nov. 1 to "assess the remarkably far-reaching implications" of his Sept. 12 decision.

Ibarra ruled the Hokuli'a project is not an allowable use of agricultural lands, and found the developer should have gone to the state Land Use Commission to have the property reclassified by the LUC for urban development. Ibarra ordered almost all work stopped until Oceanside either obtains a reclassification from the LUC, or obtains a "declaratory ruling" from the LUC that the project is acceptable.

Oceanside says that could take years, and the halt in construction would eliminate at least 250 jobs, and prevent millions of dollars a month from being spent in Kona.

Ibarra's ruling is an enormous setback for the developer. Oceanside says it has spent more than $190 million on construction and development of the 1,550-acre project since 1998.

The developer argued that unless work on the project is allowed to continue soon, "Oceanside, the County and perhaps the State will no doubt begin to receive demands for compensation not only from Hokuli'a lot owners, but also from contractors and others." Those claims could amounts to "hundreds of millions of dollars or more," according to the filing.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.