Maoliworld

Ke Ao Maoli

Taken from Kauai Eclectic - blog by Joan Conrow

Kauai Eclectic
"As you may recall, he was quoted in Sunday’s newspaper as saying:

“I’m not a developer, I’m just a regular guy in a very unfortunate, uncomfortable situation,” he said. “I’ve done everything I can to make this sensitive and respectful, and I don’t know what else can be changed.”

It seems that over the past eight years, Brescia and/or his wife, Jodie, have purchased 10 properties in Hawaii — nine of them on Kauai — and re-sold at least four of them. These aren’t the sorts of properties that the average middle-class person might buy, either. Among them are a condo at The Regency at Poipu, a lot in the pricey Hanalei Palms subdivision, a place at Anini that he ended up selling for $740,0000 — half his original asking price — and another at Anini that he sold for $950,000.

And then there are three parcels on Alalea Street in Wainiha, including the one with all the burials. He built a house on another, where one burial was found at the end of construction and reburied under the structure, that he recently sold. I don’t know what he got, but it was listed for more than $7 million.

Further, Brescia has formed at least three limited liability corporations in Hawaii to handle his various real estate transactions.

So maybe he’s not a developer, compared to those guys who build thousands of subdivision houses and strip malls, but he’s certainly a high-end real estate investor and speculator. And that, in my mind, at least, moves him out of the realm of a “regular guy,” which I would define more as the type who has to check his truck for change at the end of the month before buying snacks at Menehune Mart on his way to work in the morning.

Comment

You need to be a member of Maoliworld to add comments!

Join Maoliworld

Comment by Yolanda Crisostomo on June 25, 2008 at 10:29am: Oh, and also, Brescia is NOT just a regular guy. As shown in both your and my posts he buys and sells for a profit.

Comment by Yolanda Crisostomo on June 25, 2008 at 10:28am: Mahalo Pono for the updates. What's really good news to me is the positive spin on the police department. Cool!

Comment by Pono Kealoha on June 25, 2008 at 10:16am: RE: Construction Halted at Kauai Ancient Remains Site

Construction Halted at Kauai Ancient Remains Site
Written by Tina Chau - tchau@kgmb9.com
See KGMB9 Video:
http://kgmb9. com/main/content/view/7636/40/

About 75 protesters were prepared to stop construction, but they didn't need to. The Kauai chief of police stopped it himself, citing a Hawaii law protecting Hawaiian remains or iwi.

"The construction will not begin until section 711-1107 is addressed and that section deals with desecration," said chief Perry.

He threatened to arrest contruction crews if they disturbed the beachfront Haena lot. It's yet another set back for property owner Joseph Brescia, a California contractor who's been trying to build a home here for the past seven years.

It's a culture clash playing out around the state. Just this week, First Hawaiian Bank announced it was re-designing its Kailua branch after remains were found during an excavation in March.

Dozens of sites have been uncovered in Kakaako, an area undergoing massive renovations. And it's going to be an issue for future projects.

City officials planning Oahu's mass transit line believe ancient bones are bound to be unearthed somewhere along the 19-mile route. The Kauai beach lot, with about 30 graves, is just the latest example.

The landowner said he's not a greedy developer; just someone looking to build a home for his family. And he believes he's followed all protocol and rules, speaking with the island's burial council, appearing before the planning commission and revising his floor plan fifteen times.

He plans to take all necessary steps to proceed with construction. Until that happens, Hawaiians are celebrating.

"It's a good victory for us," said protest leader Kauilani Huff. "I'm really really proud of our police department for really doing the investigation."

Brescia said he's already invested more than a million dollars. He says if anyone is willing to buy the land from him, he's willing to listen.

Comment by Pono Kealoha on June 25, 2008 at 7:16am: WE WERE VICTORIOUS IN OUR KU`E!

Aloha to all my ohana and friends, WE WERE VICTORIOUS IN OUR KU`E! MAHALO KE AKUA, NA AKUA, NA AUMAKUA, NA TUPUNA AND ALL THE SPIRITS THAT SURROUNDED US!

NAUE VIDEO ON YOU TUBE

All was peaceful and spirtual at Naue this morning. There were no arrests and we stopped the construction of Brescia's house at the burial grounds. Chief of Police Darryl Perry publicly announced that in his opinion the area is a grave site of 30 known burials.He said this on the news at six o'clock KGMB channel 9. Check out the brief story they did on us this morning. They may show it again on their next newscast at 10. Mahalo to all for your prayers and well wishes from our people here on Kauai and other islands that responded. Mahalo to the Police Dept. for their understanding and for helping us with our ku`e. We will continue to be persistent and show our resistance to the hewa of burial desecrations! Don't know if and when the construction crew will return. We do know that Mr. Brescia is saying that he is going ahead with his plans to build! We'll have to wait and see. On June 4th, we stopped the construction and today, June 24th, we did it again! All is well at Naue for the time being and our na iwi kupuna are resting in peace. PuaNani, networking wale no Puanani RogersHo`okipa Network - KauaiKapaa, Hi 96746Ko Hawaii Pae Aina Think Kanaka maoli......Think Ahupua`a

Comment by Pono Kealoha on June 24, 2008 at 6:00pm

HAWAIIAN SACRED PLACE : Property owner set to begin work
http://homepage.mac.com/juanwilson/islandbreath/

image above: sketch provided by Ka'iulani Eden Huff done by her husband

by Michael Levine on 22 June 2008 in The Garden Island News

Ka‘iulani Huff, the Kapa‘a resident who has been tent camping for nearly three months on a Wainiha property discovered to be an ancient Hawaiian burial site in protest of planned developments, met with Kaua‘i Police Department officials Friday.

“Essentially, they wanted to warn me that they’re coming to our graveyard on Tuesday, and that — they didn’t say it out loud — but they were warning me that we’re going to get arrested,” Huff said after the meeting?

We did not ask her to leave, but if the developer decides they want to go in, they’ve provided all the documentation and we will be there to ensure their legal rights are protected, to minimize potential conflict with her (Huff’s) group and make sure nobody gets hurt,” said KPD Assistant Chief Clayton Arinaga.

“We agreed as a department that we needed to meet with Ms. Huff and the rest of
the demonstrators to get on the same page and make sure we respect their right to protest, but also to make sure they keep it peaceful,” said KPD Chief Darryl Perry.

Huff claims that the Wainiha subdivision should instead belong to her as it was
granted to her family by the Hawaiian crown prior to American intervention.

A Jan. 31 Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruling determined that the state cannot sell any
of the 1.2 million acres of ceded lands that once belonged to the Hawaiian monarchy until all claims are settled.

Huff said that “things are conspiring in our history right now” that could lead
to her recovering the land. She expects a variety of Hawaiian sovereignty groups
to join in her protest.

“We are sympathetic to her side, but we have a duty to perform our jobs,” Arinaga
said.

Landowner Joseph Brescia, according to attorney Walton Hong, has been trying to
build a home on the land since 2001, but has been delayed by various environmental, legal and community challenges.

The Kaua‘i Island Burial Council determined in April that 30 burials discovered
on the property in a December 2007 archaeological survey must be left in place in
order for construction to begin.

Groundbreaking was rumored to start earlier this month, but contractor Ted Burkhardt and his crew left without performing any work as some 40 residents were assembled at the site in protest.

Tuesday is now rumored to be the first day of construction.

Brescia said yesterday in a phone interview that he was “considering” building a
2,350-square-foot, three-bedroom home on the property and that he would likely be
issuing a formal statement this week.

“I’m not a developer, I’m just a regular guy in a very unfortunate, uncomfortable
situation,” he said. “I’ve done everything I can to make this sensitive and respectful and I don’t know what else can be changed.

SUBJECT: HAWAIIAN SACRED PLACE

SOURCE: BRAD PARSONS mauibrad@hotmail.com

POSTED: 22 JUNE 2008 - 12:00pm EST

They’re coming to take me away!

image above: 2008 photo from dune area after ocean inundation. Photo by Caren Diamond

[Editor's Note: The property in question is at
7336 Alealea Road in the Wainiha Subdivision Lot #6
Hawaii Tax Map Key (4) 5-8-09-45 owned by
Joe & Jodie A Brescia]

by Ka'iulani Eden Huff on 21 June 2008

It's Saturday nite. Cops said yesterday to me they're coming to take me away from my iwi o kupuna so they can break ground!! NO WAY!! our ancestors are the kuamoo, the backbone of who we are as a people and as individuals. woe to the man who has no reverence for the dead....AUWEAUWEAUWE.

Please join me for a history making day of kuleana at na iwi o kupuna o naue cemetary, Aalealea Road in Ha'ena, Tuesday the 24th, at 6:30am to show ourselves as one people to our ancestors and ke akua.

We will decorate the cemetary withour women and children. Everyone please wear white! No more black for our people, we stand fully exposed in the light forever more without kaumaha.

Pray, tell everyone, and ku kanaka! ka'iu.

They will have to drag me out of our cemetary on my hands and knees. Learn a chant please for your protocol!!

see also:
Island Breath: Haena Burial Site 6/9/08
Island Breath: Bones of our Ancestors 1/13/08
Island Breath: kauai Shoreline Defined 7/30/06
Island Breath: Save Wainiha Beaches 3/8/04

Comment by Pono Kealoha on June 24, 2008 at 5:35pm: Comment by Waihili 1 day ago

http://maoliworld.ning.com/profile/Waihili

Iʻm gonna post this here too, in case people reading your post want contact info to protest what Joe Brescia is doing. I put this info in my blog on June 8, after reading Aunty Puananiʻs posts on the Hawaiʻi Independence yahoo list. I was also interested to find that a member of the band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, is also involved in this hewa -- "his" so-called land is adjacent to the land where Brescia wants to desecrate iwi.

I suggest we write letters to express our support for the people camping out to prevent his desecration of the kupuna -- show him this is getting more than local attention. This is his email:
jbrescia@aga-ca.com.

He is the president and chair of Architectural Glass & Aluminum Co, with an address in Southern CA:
2691 Richter Avenue, Suite 120, Irvine CA 92606, (949)797-9000.

And an address in Northern CA:
1151 Marina Village Parkway, Suite 101, Alameda, CA 94501 (510)444-6100.

He is also on the board of the Northern CA Glass Management Association, 5677 Horton Street, Emeryville, CA -- just a couple miles from here.
Malama pono,
Amy