A Senate Committee passed a measure today allowing the State to purchase land owned by Turtle Bay Resort, allowing the State to continue negotiations with the hotel to find a balance between expansion and preservation.
Hotel employees rallied against the bill, but community groups say it will help keep the country, country.
"We’re just now literally at the 11th hour of the SEIS process and this came out of left field with no warning and really threatens everything we’ve done," said Drew Stotesbury, Turtle Bay Resorts.
"Well this doesn’t prevent expansion but what this does is limit expansion to the footprint, the existing footprint," said Sen. Clayton Hee, (D) who represents Kaneohe, Hauula, Kahuku.
"It will give us a pretty much an uninterrupted coastline all the way up from Kawela all the way down almost to Maalaia Kahana," said Kathleen Pahinu, Keep the North Shore Country.
The governor’s office says the bill is still a work in progress.
It will now go before the full Senate for their approval.
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
