News

Hearing set for proposed Kona project

by Advertiser Staff
Honolulu Advertiser
Thursday, December 31, 2009

 

The state Land Use Commission has scheduled a hearing March 3-4 on a request by a developer to reclassify 181 acres in Kona from conservation to urban as part of a plan to build 1,000 homes on the parcel.

The development, called 'O'oma Beachside Village, would be south of the state's Natural Energy Laboratory and include homes ranging from affordable to luxury.

Dennis Moresco, a partner of North Kona Village LLC, purchased the land in 2005 and has said he plans to donate to the public a more than 1,500-foot-wide swath of shoreline along the length of the project.

The property is formally known as 'O'oma II and was once controlled by Cliff Morris, who had planned to build a hotel and a 400,000-square-foot shopping center in 2003-04 before the proposal was rejected by the Hawai'i County Council.