As appropriated improvement money sits pending Hawai`i Gov. Linda Lingle's release, an anonymous volunteer has started tackling needed work on the most perilous stretch of the NaPali Coast Trail on Kauai's North Shore. Sen.Gary Hooser, D-Kauai, made it a priority to get some funding to begin the work. This year's legislative budget approved June 27 allocated $1.2 million for the Kaua`i Panning and Action Alliance (KPAA) to restore and reconstruct hiking routes through Na Pali Coast Wilderness State Park and rebuild the Civilian Conservation Core camp at Koke`e State Park. The next step is to get the government to release the monies.
The 11-mile Na Pali Coast - Kalalau Trail provides the only land access to revered seaside vistas, valleys and waterfalls. Assuming the funds are released, the first task will be reconstructing portions of the trail's first two miles - from Ke`e Beach to Hanakapi`ai. In addition to hiring a contractor to do the trail reconstruction work, KPAA will have a project coordinator who will solicit input on needed improvements from regular community users of the trail.
After work begins to repair the trail's first two miles, Sen. Hooser said he plans to request funding in the 2008 budget to proceed on reconstructing the remainder of the path.
Arius Hopman, an avid hiker from Hanapepe, traversed the trail last week and encountered drastic improvements along the most dangerous section from mile 6 to mile 8. "I came around a bend and saw a tall man working the trail with pick and shovel. He told me he had been fixing the trail for over a month, probably over 150 hours," he said. "It was as good as it had been seven to ten years ago. " The anonymous volunteer, an ex-Marine and stone mason, told Hopman about families he saw turn back due to the unsafe conditions and felt compelled to answer the call. "Volunteerism is on the rise, it seems it is up to us to start pitching in where help is needed," Hopman said. "Complaining is just a waste of energy that could be spent fixing the problem."
Napali Coast Trail Gets Allocations
0 comments • Ronnie Margolis, Kauai Realtor®, CDPE, ABR, RA - On Top of the Aloha Beat • November 17 2007 03:52PMGreat Kauai Island Values - November 17, 2007
1. Brand New Luxury townhome in Princeville - golf and ocean views. Kai'iulani is a luxurious community of 77 state-of-the-art townhomes built on the last 17 bluff acreage in Princeville that was not owned by the Princeville Corporation. Unit 49 is packed with developer upgrades and being offered at 100k below developers price. The unit sits on the 8th hole in the infamous Prince Golf Course with ocean views to the North. Motivated seller is now offering the unit at $1.79 million.
2. Great Wailua Homesteads Value
This 3 bedroom/2 bath house in Wailua Homesteads also has an outdoor deck and a 14' x 17' bonus room, which you could use as a family room, office or workshop. Nice neighborhood and big lot. Home is across street from the Wailua River rim. An excellent buy at $535,000
3. Affordable in Koloa
If you love the sunny south side, this home is tastefully designed, custom, total renovated. Private, though centrally located, with a pathway to the beach (which is less than 3 minutes away with great sunsets) and minutes from 2 great golf courses, fine dining and shopping. A bargain at $990,000
0 comments • Ronnie Margolis, Kauai Realtor®, CDPE, ABR, RA - On Top of the Aloha Beat • November 17 2007 03:35PMCoco Palms Has Left the building
Coco Palms Has Left the Building
In mid-September, TGI published this article regarding the legendary hotel where Elvis Presley filmed Blue Hawaii and often vacationed.
The drive by Coco Palms Ventures to restore the historic Coco Palms Resort in Wailua, a flagship hotel in Hawai`i in the 1950s and 1960s, has ended. The developer recently decided to sell the resort partly because the county Planning Commission rejected a plan for a full-scale fitness spa - a key project aimed at attracting affluent buyers, according to the listing agent for the sale of 200 condominiums at the project.
Although the developer had argued the county had previously approved the spa (at the site of old tennis courts on the northern end of the project in 1985 and 2000), the current planning commissions sided with critics who said the project should not be placed in an open district. "The current owner isn't going to develop the land and will auction it off (later this year) to another developer" according to the listing agent.
Coco Palms will not be built at this time...Some locals have suggested we turn it into a park.
Coco Palms had been closed since suffering severe damage by Hurricane `Iniki in 1992. The effort to build a new resort reminiscent of the Polynesian style of the old one came with much fanfare in March 2006. Plans called for the start of the first phase of the work - demolition of 90% of the buildings last summer and for the resort to open in 2008. Plans included building a $220 million resort that included 48 bungalows, 200 condos, restaurants and some form of a space to be built among clusters of building. Had the developers followed through on their plans, the resort would haven been the last of Kauai's hurricane-damaged hotels to be repaired. So, if you are looking for a large development project on 16 plus acres, directly across from the ocean in Wailua, you might want to stay abreast of the auction details.
The Coco Palms sales office located in the Coconut Marketplace has been closed and any initial deposits taken will of course be returned to those buyers.
As of this writing, the developers have solicited bids from any developers interested in taking over the project. Word has it that the developers are in negotiations with buyers but no agreement has been reached at this time.
0 comments • Ronnie Margolis, Kauai Realtor®, CDPE, ABR, RA - On Top of the Aloha Beat • November 17 2007 03:30PMActive rain Activation
11 comments • Ronnie Margolis, Kauai Realtor®, CDPE, ABR, RA - On Top of the Aloha Beat • November 16 2007 02:02AMContent © 2009 'Frequent Contributors'. Design © 2009 ActiveRain Corp.
Logos and service marks owned by copyright holder.