A long-contested plan to open a bottling plant near Wailoa Park was finally killed once and for all last week at a meeting of the Windward Planning Commission.
Piilani Partners LLC had requested a Special Management Area permit to drill a 1,000-foot well into the Maunakea aquifer near the intersection of Piilani and Mililani streets in Hilo.
In February, the Windward Planning Commission deferred Piilani Partners’ request pending determinations from the state Commission on Water Resource Management. Because Piilani Partners did not agree with a deferral that could potentially last indefinitely, the business requested a reconsideration.
At its next meeting in March, the Planning Commission then chose to reconsider the application, before promptly voting to deny it. However, considering and adopting the associated findings and decisions was moved to the following meeting in April, where it was deferred again until May.
While the Planning Commission’s actions at the May meeting were largely a formality after denying the application in March, they mark the end of the proposal after months of protest and controversy.
Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald
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