Approval Of New Hotel On O‘ahu’s North Shore Sparks Lawsuit To Protect Wildlife

Environmental and community groups filed a lawsuit today challenging the City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting’s approval of a new Ritz-Carlton resort at Kuilima on Oʻahu’s North Shore. The lawsuit, which was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi, and community group Kūpa‘a Kuilima, asserts that the county unlawfully relied on an outdated environmental report that fails to account for newly listed endangered species, changed ecological conditions, and increased development pressures in the area.

“It’s unacceptable for the county to greenlight this damaging development using an outdated environmental review that never considered endangered Nalo Meli Maoli, which are irreplaceable native Hawaiian yellow-faced bees,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands director and a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “When the science advances and new species are at risk, the law requires the county to take a hard look, not look the other way.”

The groups are challenging the county’s decision to rely on a  supplemental environmental impact statement issued 13 years ago, in 2013, to approve construction of an additional luxury hotel at Kuilima, adjacent to the existing Turtle Bay Resort. The new Ritz-Carlton would be built on a separate, previously undeveloped parcel. Another nearby parcel closer to Kahuku and the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge is also slated for future development. This would further increase cumulative harms that were never properly analyzed.

“Hawaiʻi’s environmental review laws are only as strong as the government’s willingness to enforce them,” said Earthjustice attorney Dru Hara. “When an agency ignores major new information and waves through a massive luxury development, the public is left without the meaningful review that the law requires.”

Since the 2013 review document was approved, significant new information has emerged about native wildlife in the project area. Endangered yellow-faced bees, which were placed on the federal endangered species list in 2016, have been documented at and near the project site. Since 2018, an active and growing breeding colony of Mōlī (Laysan albatross) has established itself nearby at Kahuku Point. And since 2013, growing numbers of endangered Hawaiian monk seals are increasingly using beaches fronting the development area, including for the birthing and rearing of pups. None of this new information was addressed in the outdated 2013 environmental review.

“Hawaiʻi’s environmental laws exist to protect our ʻāina and the native species that are inseparable from Native Hawaiian culture and identity,” said Jonee Peters, Executive Director of Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi. “When agencies allow large-scale resort development to move forward without fully accounting for impacts to endangered species and culturally important ecosystems, they are failing both the law and their responsibility to future generations who depend on these places to survive and thrive.”

“Kuilima is not just a development site. It is a place of cultural significance and ongoing community stewardship,” said Jessica dos Santos of Kūpa‘a Kuilima. “Approving another luxury hotel without fully understanding the impacts threatens a place our community has worked hard for many years to protect.”

The lawsuit asks the court to invalidate the county’s approval and prevent further construction unless and until a new supplemental environmental impact statement is completed in compliance with Hawaiʻi law.