|
KAUAI NEWS
Bed and breakfast operation in Hanalei given approval
 |
The historic bed and breakfast at Hanalei. |
By LESTER CHANG - TGI Staff Writer
Posted: Friday, May 14, 2004 - 03:50:30 am HST
Kaua‘i Planning Commission members on
Tuesday issued permits for a bed-and-breakfast business that
has operated in an historic building in Hanalei town without
permits for about 13 years.
The business, which is
owned by Yuichi and Kelly Sato, has been conducted in what was
a Japanese Buddhist Mission temple, constructed in 1901 in
Kapaia. The historical structure was saved by North Shore
resident Larry King, cut into three pieces and moved over 35
miles to the site in Hanalei about 15 years ago.
The building has
been used as a home and as a bed-and-breakfast operation since
Hurricane ‘Iniki struck Kaua‘i in 1992.
The Satos have
owned the business and building since 2000, and sought a
county use permit and a Class IV zoning permit.
The
couple’s request marks the first time in many years that
someone has requested permits to formally run such a business
out of a home.
Most bed-and-breakfast operators forgo
obtaining the permits because they don’t want their projects
to undergo public scrutiny, and risk having their proposals
rejected by the county.
During the Tuesday meeting at
the Lihu‘e Civic Center, Planning Commission members imposed
restrictive conditions that would increase the cost of
operating the business and would prevent the transfer of the
permits to a new owners of the bed-and-breakfast business of
the Satos.
Among the key conditions:
The permits would apply to the Satos only, and shall not
be transferable to future owners of the property.
The operation should be restricted to one single-family
residential dwelling unit, which shall be the full-time
residence of and managed by the Satos.
The Satos can use only two downstairs bedrooms as
bed-and-breakfast units. The couple had hoped to use three of
the four bedrooms as guestrooms.
Only one kitchen shall be allowed on the property.
No cooking facilities, including microwaves, hot plates,
toaster ovens or cook tops shall be installed.
The Satos would have to pay an environmental impact fee of
$2,000 ($1,000 for each bedroom used as a bed-and-breakfast
unit) to the Planning Department for their business.
The state Department may require upgrading of the
wastewater system for future building permits.
The Satos will resolve with the Planning Department, the
Kaua‘i County Public Works Engineering Division and the state
Department of Transportation Highways Division a parking lot
and access layout that meets government requirements.
The Satos also will have to consult with the Kaua‘i County
Civil Defense and the state Department of Health officials to
develop an emergency plan for flooding and to resolve
wastewater issues related to the project. The
bed-and-breakfast business currently operates on a
cesspool.
Kaua‘i Planning Department officials,
however, said several aspects of the property made the Sato
project a "potential candidate for a B&B
use."
County documents noted the Sato property is
located near the "town center" of Hanalei town, the highway
and across from commercially-zoned properties.
The
building is the former temple of the Lihu‘e Hongwanji Mission,
which is on the State and Historic Registers of Historic
Places.
The building was slated for demolition in the
mid-1980s to make way for a new education building at the
Hongwanji Mission site in Kapaia. It was later sold and moved
to Hanalei town, and then used as a home.
The home has
been used as a bed-and-breakfast operation by the Satos and
others for 12 years without required county permits, county
planners said. County documents also contained Web site data
showing the Sato building had been temporarily put up for
sale.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and
lchang@pulitzer.net
 |
|
