Environmental Assessment Needed for Kauai Resort Plan Backed by Omidyar

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Ohana Real Estate Investors is going to have to conduct a comprehensive environmental analysis before it can move forward with its plan to build multimillion-dollar homes on the north shore of Kauai.

Kauai County filed an environmental statement preparation notice on Nov. 26 requiring the company to conduct an environmental impact statement for the proposed development known as Hanalei Plantation Resort.

The California-based company’s principal investor is billionaire Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay and PayPal as well as the publisher of Civil Beat.

The plan to develop 34 homes and 86 hotel units in Hanalei has been highly criticized by Kauai residents.

Hundreds packed a community meeting last year to protest the plan, fearing how it could change the character of the area and the beautiful landscape.

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This photo taken Nov. 13, 2012 depicts the site of one of 34 residential lots that Ohana Real Estate Investment wants to develop on a ridge overlooking Hanalei Bay. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat)

Read Civil Beat’s past coverage of the issue here:

Hundreds Pack School Cafeteria to Protest Hanalei Ridge Development

— Anita Hofschneider

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