Panel wants to study impact of Laie hotel

COURTESY HAWAII RESERVES INC.

An artist's rendering shows the proposed Laie Inn.

A City Council panel has advanced a permit that would allow development of a 222-room hotel and restaurant complex in Laie but wants another month to study the matter before putting it to a vote by the full Council.

Members of the Zoning Committee said they want to study potential traffic, flooding and other issues raised by community members at a four-hour hearing Wednesday night in Kahuku.

Hawaii Reserves Inc. is seeking a special management area permit for construction of the hotel project, which includes a restaurant, banquet and meeting facilities, a stand-alone McDonald's restaurant and a new two-story commercial building. The project, operated under the Courtyard by Marriott brand, would be along Kamehameha Highway adjacent to the Polynesian Cultural Center and Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

Community members who support the project say it will spur job growth in the North Shore and give residents the opportunity to seek good-paying jobs closer to home.

Officials say the project is expected to create 153 jobs, including 75 direct on-site jobs. About 150 construction jobs also could be anticipated once building begins.

The permit application, Resolution 11-84, advanced out of the committee Wednesday night and is expected to go before the full Council at its July meeting.