The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is investigating alleged unpermitted clearing at the Coco Palms Resort on Kauaʻi.
The Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands opened an investigation into an alleged violation last week at the site of redevelopment.
The dilapidated remains of the hotel seen in Elvis’s “Blue Hawaiʻi” are all that’s left after Hurricane ʻIniki destroyed it in 1992.
The ongoing hotel renovation project is estimated to cost $250 million for a 350-room resort and cultural center.
Multiple attempts to revive the hotel have fallen apart over the years. The site is now under Utah-based Coco Palms Ventures LLC, which is connected to the last attempt to renovate the hotel by Coco Palms Hui LLC, which ended in the property going to a foreclosure auction in 2021.
The permits to the property have been debated in recent years and were an agenda item at a recent Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting. No action was taken at that meeting.
Community members have launched several attempts to halt redevelopment of the coastal hotel, which fronts a state highway undergoing widening.
In the 19th century, the grounds were home to Kauaʻi’s last queen, Queen Deborah Kapule Kekaihaʻakūlou. Starting in the 1950s, the resort famously hosted stars including Presley, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.
