Opinion ID: 2646951
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Village at Po#ipû Development

Text: On April 9, 2003, the Knudsen Trust filed an application with the Planning Commission to subdivide approximately 208 acres of land it owned in Kôloa, Kaua#i, to implement Phase I of its planned residential community development, the Village at Po#ipû (hereinafter referred to as “the development”). The development consisted of approximately twenty acres of land bordered on the west by Hapa Road.3 A copy of the Knudsen Trust’s application was sent to the DLNR’s State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD). SHPD issued a letter to Planning Director Costa recommending that conditions be attached to the Village at Po#ipû project, including, inter alia: conducting an archaeological inventory survey of the parcels of land in the application, submitting a report to SHPD for review and approval, and developing detailed mitigation plans if significant historic sites are recommended for mitigation. The Planning Commission subsequently granted tentative subdivision approval for the development project. To obtain 3 As discussed further infra, Hapa Road is a “significant historic site” that is afforded protections under the State’s historic preservation laws. -4- FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER  final approval, the Knudsen Trust was required to comply with the requirements set forth by SHPD. SHPD later received the “Interim Protection Plan” for the development, which identified numerous significant historic sites located in the vicinity of the development. One of the sites identified in the Interim Protection Plan was Hapa Road: “Hapa road is a single lane unpaved road connecting Kôloa Town to the beach road (Po#ipû). The road is marked by a stacked boulder wall on both sides.”4 The Interim Protection Plan called for “an orange colored plastic barricade fencing” along the east side of Hapa Road and the rock wall “during all construction and landscaping activities in the vicinity.” The Interim Protection Plan also provided, “At no time shall any construction work take place within the buffer zone.” In a March 30, 2005 letter, SHPD Administrator Melanie Chinen “concur[red]” with the Interim Protection Plan. 4 The Interim Protection Plan further stated: A brief inspection of historic maps gives some insight into the history and age of Hapa Road and its associated walls. Hapa Road is at least 100 years old. It appears on the Monsarrat Map of 1891. The road probably dates back to the 1850s when the Catholic Church was built makai of Kôloa Town on the west side of the road and probably predated this period as a mauka/makai trail. The road shows on all maps postdating 1891, including sugar field maps at the Kôloa Sugar Company. Because the rocky lands on either side of the road were used for cattle grazing, the walls were necessitated as pasture boundaries and to allow driving of cattle along the road during the early part of this century. -5- FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER  In November 2006, the Knudsen Trust completed a final environmental impact statement (Final EIS) for its Village at Po#ipû development. The Final EIS discussed Hapa Road: A portion of Hapa Road will be improved as a pedestrian and bicycle path as mandated by the County of Kaua#i. The historic rock walls will be preserved in place where they are in good condition and restored where they have collapsed or have been damaged by stone robbing. The State Land Use Commission approved the Final EIS that same month. In a January 8, 2009 letter, SHPD’s administrator noted: We have reviewed the Draft Archaeological Data Recovery Plan for an Approximately 60 ft Wide Portion of Hapa Road, SIHP # 50-30-10-0992, Koloa Ahupuaa, Koloa District, Kauai.[5] The breach of Hapa road will have an effect, with agreed upon mitigation, on a significant historic site. In order to mitigate the effect we have requested, and the Trust has agreed to restore 2,000 Linear Feet of the west side of the Hapa Road Rock wall beginning at the railroad berm and heading north to roughly match the eastern rock wall at each corresponding point. This work is to be completed by January 8, 2029. At a January 13, 2009 meeting, the Planning Commission granted final subdivision approval of the development. 5 A subsequent, Final Archaeological Data Recovery Plan called for creating an approximately 60 foot wide breach of Hapa Road by manually deconstructing the rock walls adjacent to Hapa Road, to allow for access to the proposed subdivision. The purpose of the Data Recovery Plan was to adequately mitigate the proposed impact to Hapa Road and to satisfy the regulations of SHPD. The Data Recovery Plan noted, [t]he SHPD concurrence on the breaching and reconstruction of the wall segments detailed above is contingent upon a commitment by Knudsen Trust to reconstruct 2,000 linear feet of the western wall of Hapa Road to roughly match the dimensions of the wall on the adjacent east side of the road beginning at the railroad berm and going north. -6- FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER