KAILUA — The discovery of human remains at a First Hawaiian Bank construction site is the second incident in which a building project with ties to Whole Foods has encountered the issue.

The bank is moving into a parking lot adjacent to its present location at the center of town to make room for a new Whole Foods Market.

Texas-based Whole Foods plans to open four markets in Hawai'i: at Ward Village Shops, in Kailua, at Kahala Mall and on Maui.

At the Ward project, 64 sets of remains were found during construction, causing delays as the developer, General Growth Properties, worked with the state and cultural descendants on a treatment plan for the kupuna iwi.

In a private ceremony a few weeks ago, the last of the iwi was reinterred at a central location on site, said Jan Yokota, General Growth vice president of development.

The sanctity of burials is especially important to Hawaiians who believe that the remains of their kupuna empower their descendants.

DETAILED PROCESS

Whenever bones, or iwi, are unearthed at a construction site, work must stop and state and city agencies must be notified. A process is set in motion to decide the best resolution for the remains, including relocating them to a more appropriate site.

"You often can't anticipate anything like this occurring, so it's just something we acknowledge and we acknowledge that it's part of the process," Yokota said. "It is important for us that we continue to work closely with cultural descendants ... in the most sensitive way to deal with the iwi that has been found."

Whole Foods declined to comment about the remains found in Kailua but offered a statement through its consultant, Carrie Carlin, of Bennet Group Strategic Communications.

"Whole Foods Market is engaged in an ongoing collaborative effort with landowner and developer Kaneohe Ranch, as well as descendants of the ahupua'a, to ensure that all work in the area is undertaken in a culturally appropriate fashion," Carlin wrote in an e-mail.

The bank has leased the land for its new location and is constructing the building, said Kimo Steinwascher, vice president for leasing and development at Kaneohe Ranch.

"Kailua cultural descendants have been involved in all of the decision-making as well as the state Historic Preservation Division and the burial council," Steinwascher said. "It appears to have been resolved to everybody's satisfaction."

NO DELAYS FORESEEN

The discovery has prompted a relocation and redesign of the building, but the process has not delayed the construction or the opening of the bank branch, said Corbett Kalam, executive vice president and O'ahu region manager of First Hawaiian Bank.

A small ancient Hawaiian gravesite was found by the contractor while conducting a survey of the property, Kalam wrote in an e-mail. The area is approximately 350 square feet and located on the perimeter of the proposed branch property.

"In respect of the site and in cooperation and consultation with Kailua's Ahupua'a Cultural Descendants and the state Historic Preservation Division, the bank chose to move and redesign the proposed branch in order to leave the iwi undisturbed," he said. "An appropriate blessing was performed, and a marker will be provided for the site."

Three remains were uncovered during an archaeological inventory survey for the sewer lines, according to the April 9 minutes for the O'ahu Island Burial Council. Council members praised the bank for handling the situation with sensitivity and involving the community.

At a meeting this month, the council accepted the plan to preserve the burial site, said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which oversees the state Historic Preservation Division, which in turn manages the burial council.

As part of the construction permit process, some projects are referred to the Historic Preservation Division, Ward said. The division reviews about 200 projects a month and responds to two or three inadvertent discoveries each week, Ward said. It is involved with up to 250 cases annually.

"The decision to move the branch and respect the site was absolutely the right thing to do," said Don Horner, CEO of First Hawaiian Bank.