A grassroots activist group on Oʻahu is set to have its day in court against the Ritz-Carlton Oʻahu Turtle Bay resort.
Kupaʻa Kuilima and EarthJustice filed a lawsuit in state court to block the proposed development of a second resort on the Ritz-Carlton’s Turtle Bay property.
The organizations argue that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., the owners of the property, used an outdated environmental impact survey.
They claim the EIS from 2013 did not account for changes to the area, including a recent increase in monk seal pupping, albatross nesting and the discovery of the endangered yellow-faced bee, the nalo meli maoli.
To tell us more about the lawsuit and how they’re preparing for their upcoming court hearing, HPR surveyed the area with members of Kupaʻa Kuilima and spoke with Lillie Makaila, a board member, to learn more.
Interview Highlights
On why they filed suit against the resort development
LILLIE MAKAILA: We actually had meetings with representatives of Hosts some time ago as we were being activated with our concerns about the luxury condos…and we shared with them specifically that we're not anti-development per se, but we believe strongly in pono development. And pono development looks like thoughtful, mindful, community-inclusive types of development, where you understand what all the resources are that are here, including our native species, both plants and animals and our native people. We just explained to them really clearly that we wanted them to do the appropriate amount of studies and updated studies, and that that was our biggest concern. So we were super disappointed to see that they are following in the pathway of the luxury condos in just trying to get an exemption and not actually have to do those studies or engage with the community at all.
On the development of another luxury resort in Turtle Bay
MAKAILA: I think that there's a lot of interest in having more job opportunities where folks don't have to commute as far. I think the concern that we've heard about those job opportunities is that they might be kind of limited, that a lot of the upper management positions, or the more skilled positions with a higher pay and a more livable wage actually go to folks who are already in the Host Hotel or Ritz Carlton system. … And you can't not say that the hotel isn't beautiful, or that it's a gorgeous place to visit. I think our concern is, how many do you need? The Ritz Carlton Hotel is gorgeous, and it employs a lot of people that are over there. But how many people would actually be employed by another luxury hotel? And this isn't the only additional hotel that's being proposed. There's a third one that's also being proposed. And so we just have those types of concerns that maybe it's not what it's being pitched to the community.
On their goal for the lawsuit
MAKAILA: Our main hope for this is to make the types of procedures and processes for building in very beautiful, very, very important places to us, both culturally and to our community, more clear and more reflective of what the community desires. I think most people would like to have basic foundational studies that account for the native plants, animals and native practices that take place in a certain area, and of course, would also include iwi kūpuna or other graves or burials that are in that site. I just couldn't imagine building something without understanding the area where I'm planning to build. And I don't know how you could even get so far as to design and construction when you don't actually fully understand all of the resources that are there. That's our hope that this will have impacts both on the proposed development but also on the county and how they understand their responsibility.
HPR reached out to Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. for comment. They responded:
“While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, Host believes it has acted in compliance with all applicable laws, permits, and established agreements governing the property. The current proposed development has been significantly reduced through conservation easements, settlement agreements, and adopted community plans from previous approved plans for this area. Our focus remains on environmental stewardship, public shoreline access, and continued community engagement while we work through the legal process.”
The court hearing is set for Thursday, April 23, at 10 a.m.
This story aired on The Conversation on April 22, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
