Sheraton fined for unpermitted structures

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Someone a month or so ago was upset that jungalows in Seaview had been rented for $400 a month. Including wifi, transportation, soap, and other amenities.

Check out the cost of a 3 hour manta ray dive from the Sheraton's illegal building by the bay; $???
You can't, because you have to book on their website without a listed price. But other companies charge $100 a person for 3 hours. Using that figure as a basis of comparison, that's $24,000 per month (because they also make night dives) per person, at 24 hours a day, times 30 days a month.

So, where is the Lord of the Flies tag team assault on the enormous profits the Sheraton racks up day after day from their illegal structure?

[kalakoa]

where is the Lord of the Flies tag team assault on the enormous profits the Sheraton racks up day after day from their illegal structure?

I was wondering the exact same thing, until I realized the anticlique doesn't live anywhere near Kona -- people with that kind of free time on their hands usually can't afford to live in an expensive area.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

the anticlique doesn't live anywhere near Kona

I considered that possibility as well. A NIMBY response in Seaview, but Kona is just too far out of sight & out of mind. But then I remembered the coalition of citizens had contributing members and followers not only outside of Puna District, but internationally as well.

No, no, this is something more than NIMBY. I don't know if this is true, but it's almost as if they were driven not by principles, but by a personal vendetta. If that were the case, and I'll go ahead and base my next set of comments on something I just said I don't know is true, then I would certainly start to doubt, and in fact would question the sincerity the coalition. As well as their true motives.

[missydog1]

What was it you said in this topic, surely with good intentions?
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19960

Kathy

[missydog1]

At least Planning is working on it.

quote:

---

The Sheraton ... incurred the wrath of canoe clubs, neighbors, boat owners, commercial recreation operators and cultural groups for what they see as preferential treatment for the company

---

Looks to me like the people affected and outraged by this particular scoffing of law are making themselves heard ... as they should.

fwiw, re the manta dives and the tour math, I know it's not supposed to be a realistic tally, but you know that manta dives are only done at night, right? They use the lights to attract plankton for the manta to feed ... does not work by day. Companies do one or two a night at most. (They may do other types of tours in the day, don't know.)

Seems to me that people working in their communities or their area of knowledge is a good way to distribute activism. Where people are motivated to make a difference, they try harder.

I've been involved with the Papa'ikou and Pepe'ekeo issues for 3-4 years now, working on cultural preservation and public access in Pepe'ekeo in a small way as part of a group. I will leave Keauhou to Keauhou unless the Sheraton does something to outrage the whole island, and then I might march. I might march if people began protesting the Mauna Kea Resort's horrible attitude towards locals.

We pick our battles, no? Cat looks after Kapoho Vacationland ...

The County also picks it battles, and can't make us all happy, for sure.
I'm sure the Sheraton is not the only resort to screw up, and won't be the last, and I imagine that they all get some special treatment. I'm not pro-Sheraton, but that hotel has been in and out of bankruptcy for years now, and it does employ a lot of people who will not have jobs if it does fold. I can see why they might not want to hurt it, but would rather get the correction.

Sheraton hosts the slack key festival these days too. They have some good cultural programs. Certainly the hotel property contains very important cultural sites, and needs to act as a good steward.

It really would be bad for a lot of working families if the Sheraton went under, so I won't say "off with its head." More like "just get your act together."

Kathy

[imwithstoopid]

Don't know what's wrong with your officials, but I recommend you hire his honor, our ex-mayor R. Daley of Chicago, he (overnight) eliminated an entire lake front airport. No (very few) questions asked and illegal. Some planes were still there when he did it.

Don't be an sesquipedalian, Eschew Obfuscation.....

Sometimes, when I see the neighborhood children make small discoveries of their own, I wish I were a child.
With apologies to Dr. Seuss