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LIHUE >> Kauai County officials are weighing a proposal to transform a former sugar storehouse into a self-storage facility and construction-materials recycling center.
The Planning Commission was scheduled to consider the proposal Tuesday, The Garden Island reported.
Island Self Storage LLC wants to develop the vacant, 43,000-square-foot Nawiliwili Bulk Sugar building.
The proposal calls for the phased construction of a four-story facility for as many as 1,650 units. It also calls for a leased, temporary materials resource recovery operation for construction company Pacific Concrete Coring and Cutting Inc., based in Lihue.
“Recycling and reusing construction demolition of building materials serves a greater public good by rerouting materials that would otherwise be headed for the county’s landfill,” Lihue attorney Lorna Nishimitsu wrote in a letter for Island Self Storage to county planning officials.
The building is owned by Gay and Robinson Inc.
State health officials want to know where storm water from the property would be discharged, and how much might be generated by the project. They also want to know how wastewater would be treated.
“The state Department of Health will not recommend approval of the application until the storm drain and the wastewater issues are resolved,” state officials wrote to county planning officials in a letter.
The bulk-storage building dates back to the 1950s. That’s when the Lihue Plantation Co. made improvements to accommodate sugar storage. The last sugar cane harvest occurred in 2010.
The 3.4-acre property was valued at almost $2.5 million for the 2015 tax year, according to county real property assessment records.
