350-foot hotel gets its first OK
Developers of a planned Waikiki hotel-condominium to be called 2121 Kuhio have won a preliminary approval from a key City Council committee that would allow the high-rise to have a height of 350 feet, 50 feet more than is currently allowed.
The Council Planning and Zoning Committee voted 5-0 to allow Los Angeles-based PACREP LLC the extra height for what is being planned as a 37-story hotel on Kuhio Avenue. Two members, Ron Menor and Ann Kobayashi, voted "yes" with reservations.
Resolution 13-2 now goes to the full Council for a final vote that will likely take place next month.
The Waikiki Neighborhood Board and Waikiki residents have voiced concerns that the building should face Ewa-Diamond Head to preserve view planes as recommended by the Waikiki Special District Design Plan.
But city planners said the plan states specifically that the main view planes to be preserved are the view of the ocean and Diamond Head from Punchbowl, and the view of the Koolau Mountains from Fort DeRussy.
From that perspective, 2121 Kuhio’s plans are consistent with the Waikiki district guidelines, said Jiro Sumada, acting director of planning and permitting.
Project planner Keith Kurahashi said the increase in height will narrow the width of the building and make it less obtrusive.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Protector of Molokai lauded
A fisherman and conservationist was honored Thursday for a lifetime of work protecting Molokai’s northern coast.
The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Pacific Islands Region presented Mac Poepoe with the 2013 Umu Kai Award in Kaunakakai.
The award is presented to a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner who invokes the spirit of traditional fishing practices and management while adapting to modern fishing environments.
Poepoe created a localized guide on the life cycles of fish of Moomomi, Molokai. This inspired communities on Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii island to develop similar calendars and adopt some of his other methods of conservation.
The award has previously gone to navigator Nainoa Thompson, Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairman William Aila and charter school Principal Mahina Paishon-Duarte.
