Kauai Newsletter
Spring 2006
A t last the sun is shining on the Garden Isle!

March brought record rains to the island, and contributed to a disastrous dam breach. It felt as though it would never stop raining. The Hanalei Bridge was closed several times, roads were flooded, and red mud slid down the hillsides onto roads, tires, and driveways. Waterfalls that normally appear as cracks to the naked eye bloomed into gushing torrents. Major falls such as Wailua started looking more like Niagara Falls. In fact, the island received a whopping 36.13 inches of rain for the month, setting an all-time high record for March going back to 1951, and for any month since 1968. Normal rainfall for March is three to four inches. Normal rainfall for an entire year on Kauai is about 40 inches, a total we have already exceeded. What is going on? Is it global warming? Scientists haven't gone that far, saying a series of low pressure systems over the islands is responsible, and that it happens from time to time. Fortunately, the systems have finally left us, and we're back to normal rainy season weather: partly rainy, partly sunny, and lots of rainbows.


Disaster Strikes

But on the night of March 13th, something felt terribly wrong. After a mostly clear day, it started raining around 6 p.m. It was not a tropical downpour, just a very steady rain that went on, and on, and on, hour after hour.

"This is abnormal," I said to my husband. "It feels ominous."

"Ridiculous. It's just rain," he said at first. But as midnight approached with no letup in sight, he, too, began to feel uneasy.

Just before dawn the next morning, the earthen wall of the 116-year-old Kaloko Reservoir about 3 miles southeast of Kilauea collapsed, sending a thundering cascade of water down what had been the mere trickle of Wailapa Stream. The new raging river tumbled along its course until it smashed into another dam, the Morita Reservoir, fatally damaging that dam and sending a total of 420,000 gallons of water hurtling toward the sea in a huge150-yard-wide swath that swallowed forests or trees, power lines, and finally homes in its path. As most of you have heard, the flood destroyed a family compound and swept away seven people sleeping inside.

As a result of this terrible tragedy, the state ordered an immediate inspection of all of Kauai's 53 dams, mostly privately owned and built in the plantation era from the 1980s to the 1930s. Owners are responsible for maintaining their dams in safe condition, but with many of them no longer in use for agriculture, some owners may have become lax. The state is responsible for inspecting the dams regularly, but it, too, had become lax, and had no record of ever inspecting the Kaloko. All dam owners in the state have since been sent letters warning them of their responsibility and offering state help to fill in their dams if they can't properly maintain them. The state is now following a rigorous inspection schedule, and has opened an independent investigation into the Kaloko failure. In the meantime the results of the other Kauai inspections revealed two dams with flaws that needed to be corrected and none in danger of breaching. Undoubtedly both dam owners and the state will now be closely monitoring the island's dams. It is sickening that it took a major disaster to insure future public safety.

Both sides of Kuhio Highway are now open at the site where the water crossed it. Though permanent repairs will not be completed until year's end, the work is being done mostly at night, and there is only a minor traffic slowdown at that part of the highway.


Development Issues

Apart from that, life in Kauai goes on as usual. We continue to grow in reputation as a resort destination, and areas zoned for resorts are being developed apace, with units often sold before construction to eager buyers. Even though this development is in accordance with the county's master plan, the possibility of further development is running into some resistance, particularly on the island's south side, due to some residents' concerns about increased traffic.

Developers themselves are offering to help the county pay for necessary infrastructure in some cases. On the island's east side, developers recently offered to give the state $12.4 million to help resolve traffic, water, and waste issues, but some are still complaining. One county council member has introduced a bill to prevent the issuance of building permits for large projects on the island's south side until further county planning is done. The county has already given its approval to the Kukuiula development and other projects in the area. A shopping center and office complex off Koloa Road and Wainani, a resort residential project near Kiahuna Golf Resort with over 280 planned units, are still awaiting permits, as is the Village at Poipu.

Although the county's and state's coffers are both swelled by vastly increased tax revenues as a result of the island's rising property values, there never seems to be enough money to solve the island's transportation problems. Perhaps an infusion from private sources such as the east side developers are offering will provide the missing link, as it has in other locales. Development does need to be planned for, but restrictions on development lead to higher prices and affordability problems, which the island is now experiencing. We need to find a balance, and avoid extreme positions on either side. Resort property in Hawaii is increasingly in demand, and statewide sales of resort property totaled $3 billion in 2005, triple the amount for 2004.

It it does obtain approval, the Village at Poipu, a 203-acre residential development in eastern Poipu, could be underway before the end of this year. The project will build anywhere from 350 to 503 units, mostly single family homes, with 134 condos. Though large in scope, the development will be well integrated with nature. Twelve acres in the site will be set aside for a park, and another 23 acres will be reserved as an archaeological preserve, which will be landscaped with native plants and accessible to the public.


The Slam is Back

Good news for golf fans: the PGA Grand Slam of Golf will return this year to the Poipu Bay Golf Course form November 20 to 22. Though the rumor mill had spun theories about the tournament moving elsewhere, the PGA decided to keep the event at Poipu for the 13th straight year. The event is golf's most exclusive tournament, reserved for the winners of the year's four major contests: British Open, the U.S. Open, the Masters, and the PGA Championship. Last year it was played by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Michael Campbell, and Vijay Singh.


First Direct Flights from Outside California Begin

Visitors from Phoenix may want to purchase their tickets now. US Airways has just begun direct flights from the city to Lihue, making it the only city besides San Francisco and Los Angeles to do so. The Boeing 757 jet will initially fly four times a week, seating up to 190 passengers. Flights will increase from May 1 through September 6 for the height of the visitor season.


Life in the Slow Lane

After arriving on a quick flight, visitors may want to relax and experience travel the old fashioned way. They'll be able to do that in Puhi, on the grounds of the old Kilohana Plantation, where four historic locomotives should be up and running to give plantation tours by this summer. The old rail cars will give visitors a feel for the plantation days, when trains hauled sugar cane and other crops from the field to the refinery. The train ride will take passengers to a replica of an old plantation cottage and through sugar and coffee plantations while a narrator explains the island's history of crop production. Riders will then see other crops being grown that are important to Kauai today, such as cherries, bananas, pineapples, tea, hardwood trees, and rambutan. The fruits of these crops will be harvested and sold at the train depot after the ride.


Welcome to Historic Waimea

Railroads are a huge part of Kauai's historic past. But how many people realize that the little town of Waimea on the west side is also an important historic site? Perhaps now they will, since the town was recently named one of the country's "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Mainly known today as the gateway to the vast and colorful Waimea Canyon, which Mark Twain famously dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, Waimea was where Captain James Cook first landed when he discovered Hawaii, and was later the site of a Russian fort. An ancient cut stone irrigation channel, the Menehune Ditch, is one of the few examples of cut stone work in the Pacific, and legend has it that it was built by the "little people" who inhabited the island before the Hawaiians and did their work at night.

"Waimea is visually stunning and rich in history from ancient to modern times," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who also called the town "a jewel in plain sight." Sometimes it takes an outsider see the jewel, as many of us who live here have passed through Waimea without a second thought. A sleepy little town of historic distinction ... whoever would have thought?


Keeping the Monk Seals Happy

An educational program to help keep the Hawaiian monk seal from becoming a historic animal of the past is starting under the auspices of the Sheraton Poipu and the Kauai Monk Seal Watch. The monk seals are one of the most endangered species in the world. For the past few years, mother monks have been giving birth and raising their young in popular Poipu Beach Park. Though the seals are relocated to other parts of the island when the pups get a little older, the moms keep returning to give birth to and raise new pups the next year. They're incredibly cute, but need to be left alone. Visitors need to learn to keep their distance from the seals, who are normally docile and oblivious to humans, but can exhibit aggressive behavior if they feel their personal space is being invaded.


Real Estate

March and April sales statistics show price increases in most categories but a decrease in number of sales. The exceptionally rainy winter months have lessened visitor and home-buyer traffic somewhat, and inventory has increased. Though prices have climbed, some sellers are starting to lower their prices to reflect the market's realities. But already the visitors are starting to come in greater force, and hotels and airlines report strong bookings for the busy summer months, when sales usually pick up.

For the Koloa area, which includes Poipu, 10 homes were sold in March, compared with 15 in March of 2005. There were just 3 sales of land, compared with 13 the previous year, and 7 condo sales, compared with 12 in March 2005. Median residential price was $957,500, compared with last year's $690,000. The median condo price was $615,000, compared with last year's $761,000.

In the Hanalei district, which includes the entire north shore from north of Kilauea to Haena, sales remained strong. Home sales picked up to 18, compared with 5 this time last year, with a median price of $1,043,750, compared with $749,000 last year. There were 3 land sales, compared with 5 last year, with a median price of $1,030,000, and 14 condo sales, compared with 11 last year. Median condo price was $520,500, down slightly from last year's $539,000.

Through April 22, there were 10 residential sales in Koloa (8 the previous April), 28 land sales (5 last year) and 5 condo sales (19 last year.) Median home price was $992,500, compared with $712,500 last year. The median land price was $330,000, compared with $475,000 last year, and median condo price hit $700,000, compared with last year's $480,000.

For the same period in Hanalei, 6 homes were sold, compared with 13 the previous year, 4 land parcels changed hands (11 last year), and 7 condos sold (13 last year.) Median home price was $1,165,000 compared to $805,000 last April. Land price median was $2,235,000, but that was mainly due to the sale of a large, expensive property. The median last year was $880,000. Land prices start in the low $500,000s for a lot in Princeville. Median condo price was $644,000, compared with $670,000 last April.

Goodbye for now. If you have any questions about the island or what's for sale in the real estate market, just let me know. I hope to see you back on island soon!

With warmest aloha,