reprinted courtesy Maui News 3/14/07
Shutdown of luau grounds approved at
Wailea Marriott resort
WAILUKU – The Maui Planning Commission was not too persuaded by the cultural talk from the owners of the Wailea Marriott resort, so it spent some time Tuesday trying to instruct them on how to walk the walk.
The issue was the luau grounds, which enjoys a spacious oceanfront setting now but is going to be shut down.
The owners, Blackstone Real Estate, want to return the aged resort – first opened in 1976 as the Inter-Continental Wailea – to "true four-star status." That includes building a fine-dining restaurant just outside the 150-foot shoreline setback area and close to the much newer Wailea Beach Villas. And just mauka of the luau grounds.
The application for the $72 million project has been on hold for more than a year while Blackstone negotiated a settlement of a contested case brought by the condo owners.
Members of the planning commission, who learned the details of the private settlement Tuesday, were irritated. Commissioner Jonathan Starr called it a "shakedown" and Commissioner John Guard IV labeled it a "big taking" by opportunistic condo owners who had bought their units knowing a luau was operating.
Consultant Chris Hart had said the owners wanted to maintain a Hawaiian feeling, by, for example, changing the roof style to something with a more Territorial look.
The villa owners had objected to the noises and smells from the restaurant (to be called The Shed), and they negotiated an extensive redesign and reorientation. They also got an agreement to exclude luau activities from the ballroom roof, as well as discounts when they visit the resort.
Commissioners Starr and William Iaconetti thought that latter part smelled like a bribe, and Commissioner Bruce U’u complained about the whole idea.
"You are telling us to trust Blackstone with having a luau, you guys are talking Hawaiian style." But, he added, if the luau is to be indoors, "you might as well take it to the Mainland. It’s got to be outdoors."
Starr said it was not sensitive to Hawaiian culture to put an end to dancing and pig roasting on a beach "where it had probably gone on for centuries."
He also complained that it would take away jobs for dancers and musicians.
Steve Sutrov, who has worked at the resort since it opened, testified that about 30 people will lose their jobs when the luau, which operates four nights a week, closes.
The hotel expects they will be absorbed elsewhere.
Sutrov works for Marriott, the resort manager, not Blackstone, the property owner.
U’u and Starr both said they liked the renovations. Starr said he considered the owners were the "victims" of the neighbors.
"I am glad it is staying as a hotel (rather than becoming a time-share complex or condos). One of the things I like about it is the luau. . . . It is almost like a shakedown on the part of the residents next door."
Deputy Corporation Counsel James Giroux explained that the county is not a party to the settlement. On the other hand, the settlement cannot override the prerogatives of the commission.
Starr said he was in a quandary. He didn’t like the settlement, but he didn’t want to vote against the special management area permit and phase one and two planned development approvals and punish the owners for the actions of the neighbors.
Commissioner Suzanne Freitas said she wanted to "make them give us a spot" for another luau.
Since the commission cannot order a business to undertake a particular line of trade, a condition was crafted that fell somewhat short of that goal.
Instead, it requires Blackstone to designate a suitable area for luaus and similar outdoor functions somewhere on the 22-acre lot.
Hart said the likely site would be makai of the new "Serenity" pool for adults, although that might require some minor grading within the shoreline setback. The commission agreed to that.
The renovation of the 558 guest rooms already has been completed.
Besides The Shed and the Serenity pool, the changes include a revised porte cochere entrance, a teen pool, a third deck on the parking garage, a tensile roof over the ballroom deck and upgraded landscaping.
The special management area permit was approved unanimously.
Harry Eagar can
be reached at heagar@mauinews.com
reprinted courtesy Maui News 3/14/07
original story at: http:// mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=28542
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