When resource managers caring for the native bee and seabird habitat on Oʻahu’s North Shore learned what was happening early last month, they spread the word as far and as wide as possible in hopes of keeping the damage from spreading. One of the Marconi Point Condominiums unit owners also tried to stop the workers from clearing the shrubs and trees along the shore.
By the time the work finally was stopped, bulldozers had already stripped a large swath of vegetation — just outside of an ecological restoration fronting the Turtle Bay Resort golf course — that caretakers describe as some of the island’s most robust habitat for endangered Hawaiian yellow-faced bees, as well as a nesting and resting site of native seabirds.
“Shockingly, they ignored and bulldozed around the multiple signs that are posted (and still standing) to alert people that this is an area for nesting albatross,” according to one concerned community member.
Following an October 17 inspection, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources quickly issued a press release announcing that it had issued a notice of alleged violation to all of the unit owners in the Marconi Point CPR. The alleged violations included not only the unauthorized clearing, tree removal, and spreading of mulch in the Conservation District, they also included the construction years ago of fence lines bordering the 100-acre property subject to the CPR.
Each violation could incur fines of up to $15,000 per day plus administrative costs.
“Of concern to the department is that habitat for the endangered yellow-faced bee and native birds has been altered. Mulch is a breeding site for the invasive Rhino Beetle that is infesting and killing palms,” the press release stated.
The matter will eventually be brought to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
In addition to the DLNR, the City & County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting also investigated the site for potential violations within the Special Management Area mauka of the Conservation District. Environment Hawaiʻi did not learn by press time whether the department also found any potential violations.
Big Island resident Yarden Danker, who owns one of the coastal units and considers herself a conservationist, was shocked when she heard what had happened. “We would never do anything like that,” she stressed.
Consultant Mark Howland, whose clients include coastal unit owners Yue-Sai Kan and Richard and Elizabeth Snow, also said that they had nothing to do with the clearing. And in fact, he said, the Snows tried to intervene.
Honolulu attorney Kalani Morse, the local agent for three companies that have purchased several Marconi Point units in recent years, did issue a one-sentence statement on behalf of his client: “Management is actively working with DLNR to put together a remediation program that is acceptable to all parties and is moving forward with that.”
All three of those companies are owned by international tech entrepreneur Sushil Garg.
In May of last year, Garg’s company Greystone HI Investments, LLC, bought units 16-19, which include the dilapidated historic buildings associated with the old Marconi Wireless Telegraphy Station. His company BSS HI Properties, LLC purchased unit 31 this past August. And his company LKG HI Properties bought units 28 and 32 in September.
In total, the companies bought more than 35 acres of the 100-acre CPR, at a cost of about $10 million. Garg was also named president and chair of the non-profit Marconi Agricultural Roadway Corporation around the time Greystone purchased its units. The CPR’s developer, Jeremiah Henderson III, serves as vice president and secretary. Serving as treasurer is Kalani Schrader, who owns a CPR unit and who is executive vice president of CBRE (Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis).
Garg is founder of Birchstreet Systems, which provides cloud-based business systems used by some of the hospitality industry’s most recognizable chains, including Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni Hotels.
About a decade ago, Garg and one of his other companies, Garg Data International, Inc., settled a complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission that alleged they had aided and abetted PurchasePro.com, Inc., in a scheme to artificially inflate the latter company’s revenues. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Garg and his company consented to the entry of final judgments and were fined $50,000.
Violation Dismissed,
Permit Rejection Appealed
In November 2022, Environment Hawaiʻi reported on a notice of violation issued to Marconi Point Condominiums unit owner Yue-Sai Kan for unauthorized construction. The entire CPR lies within the Special Management Area and she had built without permits what looks like a house, raised on stilts with tall ocean-facing windows. She told the city that it is a barn and storage/operation room and asked that she be exempt from the need to obtain a building permit.
At the time our article was published, the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting stated that the structure needed SMA approval and that her exemption request was pending.
Since then, the department has determined that it issued the violation notice in error, according to Kan’s consultant, Mark Howland of WHALE Environmental Services. Because the building has an area of less than 1,000 square feet, it is considered an agricultural structure that does not require building permits, he said.
Kan joins other unit owners who had received similar violation notices that were later resolved by a DPP determination that their buildings were agricultural structures totaling less than 1,000 square feet.
The resolution of Kan’s violation cleared the way for her to seek an SMA permit to build a farm dwelling on her lot. In June, Howland filed an SMA major permit application for agricultural operations and construction outside the shoreline setback area of Lot 160-B. Lot 160-B is the large, oceanfront parcel within the CPR that includes Kan’s lot and that of the Snows.
The DPP rejected the application in July. Howland says he and the department disagree over the ordinances that apply to the proposed development of the lot and that his clients are appealing the rejection. How or whether the DLNR’s recent notice of alleged violation affects their efforts to obtain an SMA remains to be seen.
Although Kan is not a part of it, companies owned by the CPR’s developer, Jeremiah Henderson III, are in the midst of a lawsuit against the city, the DPP, and other departments. Henderson has challenged the DPP’s determination that an SMA permit may be required for the planned development at Marconi Point.
— Teresa Dawson
For Further Reading:
For more background, see the following articles available on our website, environment-hawaii.org:
- “Condominium Regime at Marconi Point Complicates Construction, Enforcement,” November 2022;
- “Developer Sues City for Holding Up Permits, Subdivision at Marconi Point,” and “Developer Seeks Fair Taxation, Disclosure of DPP Documents,” July 2023;
- “Claim that Marconi Point Developer Is Exempt From SMA Permit Need Is Disputed by City,” October 2023.
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