Police have arrested a 45-year-old Kapaa man after he allegedly attempted to steal copper pipes from the shuttered Coco Palms Resort on Kauai.
He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree criminal trespassing and copper theft, which is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
At about 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a report of a suspicious person on the property. When officers arrived the suspect was seen pushing a wheelchair with a 33-gallon garbage bin filled with copper pipes, police said.
According to site manager Bob Jasper, the wheelchair is one of a number left on the property when it shut down after Hurricane Iniki swept through the island in September 1992.
Many thefts of copper and other items have occurred at Coco Palms.
"We had a lot of arrests out here," Jasper said.
Last year four solid koa doors — each hand-carved with different palm tree designs and weighing about 200 to 300 pounds — were stolen. The doors graced the resort’s Queen’s Hall, where banquets were held.
Investor Tyler Greene of Coco Palms Hui LLC, which is planning to revive the iconic resort, said the company will ramp up security at the property.
Meanwhile a public hearing will be held before the county Planning Commission on permit applications submitted by Coco Palms Hui to renovate the hotel. The hearing date was pushed back to Jan. 27 from Dec. 9 because investors needed more time to address follow-up questions by county agencies, according to Planning Director Michael Dahilig.
Coco Palms Hui submitted applications to the Planning Department for permits for Class IV zoning, public development use, special management area and variance use.
During a community meeting Saturday with the Wailua-Kapaa Neighborhood Association, Greene gave a presentation to update residents on the renovation plans that will involve construction of 350 rooms, fewer than the 403 rooms originally built in 1953.
The plans also include 400 parking stalls, an increase from the 222 original stalls.
Coco Palms Hui also wants to create a shuttle for guests to run along the stretch of the property as well as install a photovoltaic system.
"We’d like to power the resort and get as far off the grid as possible," Greene said at the meeting, which has been posted on YouTube by Jasper.
Development costs for the renovation project are estimated at $135 million, and Hyatt Hotel’s management will oversee the resort.
Coco Palms Hui is planning to reopen the hotel in 2017.
