HILO, Hawai‘i— The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the Center for Biological Diversity will appear before the Windward Planning Commission on Monday to urge commissioners to protect the natural resources, cultural practices and pristine landscape of the wahi pana of Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, from a 147-acre development.

The proposed Punaluʻu Village project would include 225 residential and vacation rental units, a retail and wellness center, and the rehabilitation of an existing golf course and tennis facilities. The resort would replace the now defunct Sea Mountain at Punaluʻu.

What: Windward Planning Commission discussion of proposed Punaluʻu Village project.

When: Monday, May 6; meeting starts at 9 a.m.

Where: Hawaiʻi County Building, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo, 96720

Who: Community members and representatives of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the Center for Biological Diversity will speak out against the development.

“Punaluʻu must be protected and we’ll fight this development tooth and nail,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawaiʻi director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re humbled to be partnering with Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the community to ensure the preservation of these important cultural sites and resources as well as one of the last nesting beaches for endangered hawksbill sea turtles in Hawaiʻi.”

“We stand firm in our commitment to safeguarding Punaluʻu from the irreversible impacts of this proposed development,” said Ashley Obrey, senior staff attorney at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. “The Punaluʻu Village development threatens constitutionally protected cultural practices, significant natural and cultural resources, and the very essence of what makes Punaluʻu the special place that it is. We urge the Windward Planning Commission to recognize the significance of this wahi pana and to uphold its kuleana to protect it for current and future generations.”

“Our ‘āina is not for sale. Punaluʻu is home to many endangered species and sacred Hawaiian cultural sites,” said Rep. Jeanné Kapela, state House representative for this district. “The people of Ka’ū have carefully cultivated the land for generations. It is one of the few places that has not been overrun by the visitor industry. We need to keep the future of our community in the hands of its ancestral caretakers, not private corporations.”

“Since the initial C. Brewer Development in the ‘70’s, my mother, Pele Hanoa, sister, Keolalani Hanoa, and other community members worked tirelessly to preserve the entire 80 miles of coastline in Kaʻū. As Punaluʻu Beach kuleana property owners for eight generations, my ‘ohana is determined to protect the wahi pana of Punaluʻu and perpetuate the wisdom of our ancestors,” said Elsa KalaniKauleleiaiwi Dedman, a native Hawaiian and Center for Biological Diversity member with Kuleana land surrounded by the proposed development. “Current and future generations of our Punaluʻu ʻohana have the right to practice their culture on their ʻāina of their birth. This proposed resort has proven to be a continuum of desecration from C. Brewer’s Sea Mountain Resort that failed in 1975. Black Sand Beach, LLC has not done its due diligence to mālama the ‘āina since they first introduced this project in 2018. Everything here in Kaʻū is interconnected as our lives thrive and prosper together from our ahupuaʻa, mauna to the kai.”

Background

The commission held an initial hearing on a permit for the development on March 7 and dozens of members of the community testified in opposition. The Center filed a formal request for a contested hearing at that time, as did others. The commission will determine if the groups have standing to intervene as a party in this matter, allowing for formal opposition to the development to move forward.

The Punaluʻu coastline is home to myriad natural and cultural resources threatened by the proposed Punaluʻu Village project. Endangered hawksbill and threaned green sea turtles feed in the bay and nest on its shores. Freshwater springs and anchialine ponds nurture limu, a vital component of coastal ecosystems and an integral part of traditional and subsistence fishing and gathering practices. Iwi kūpuna, heiau and other cultural resources are also located throughout the project area.

The developers have failed to properly study the environmental and cultural impacts of the proposed development, nor have they created plans to protect the cultural or natural resources during and after construction. The development would also use a deteriorating wastewater system, posing a threat to coastal water quality.