This past week the State of Hawaii and the City and County of Honolulu signed a preservation agreement with Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu. Under this agreement, a total of 665.8 acres of land owned by Turtle Bay Resorts will be barred in perpetuity from any development. Furthermore, there will be two planned oceanfront parks at Kawela Bay and Kahuku Point that will be reserved for public use. In exchange for this concession, Turtle Bay would be paid $40 million from the state, $5 million from the city and $3.5 million from the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. The owners of Turtle Bay would still have the legal right to develop two hotels for a combined 625 rooms and another 100 homes of 150 acres of land that front the ocean.
While many North Shore community members are happy with this compromise between the government and Turtle Bay Resorts, there are three major community groups that are still protesting the decision and state that this does not resolve their pending legal actions over development. Defend Oahu Coalition, Keep the North Shore Country and Unite Here! Local 5 stated that they will continue to fight Turtle Bay's expansion plan of building two more hotels and 100 additional homes.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-19-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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