Posted at 12:42 p.m., Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Developer plans to build 1,000 homes in Kailua, Kona
Associated Press
KAILUA, Kona, Big Island — A developer is planning to build about 1,000 homes, ranging from luxury to affordable, on 180 acres south of the state's Natural Energy Laboratory.Preliminary plans for Ooma Beachside Village will be presented to the state Land Use Commission on Friday.
Dennis Moresco, a partner of North Kona Village LLC, is seeking a reclassification from the state conservation district to urban. He said most developers build higher on the hill, but he wants to build closer to the water.
"I've looked around and haven't seen anything comparable to what we're doing. We're going to build one heck of a playground for everyone," he said.
The state commission will determine if an environmental impact statement (EIS) is needed for the project. But Moresco said his company will assemble the study even if it's not required.
"We're doing all the studies anyway," he said. "There are archaeological sites that we'll preserve, and so I'm pretty sure we'll be putting an EIS together."
The property is formally known as Ooma II and was once controlled by Cliff Morris, who had planned to build a hotel and a 400,000-square-foot shopping center in 2003-04 before the proposal was rejected by the Hawai'i County Council.
Moresco purchased the land in 2005 and plans to donate to the public more than 1,500-foot-wide swath of shoreline along the length of the project.
Moresco wants to build two villages with open areas in between and connected by trails to the ocean.
The project will eventually have to be approved by Hawai'i County, and would require a General Plan amendment.
