A proposal to open an Italian seafood restaurant at Kewalo Basin small boat harbor hit a snag Wednesday at a board meeting of the Hawaii Community Development Authority.
Board members of the state agency voted 4-1 to allow agency staff to negotiate a lease with the restaurant operator, Bellavita Inc. But five votes by the nine-member board were needed to approve the motion.
Three members were absent and one abstained. The "no" vote came from Randy Grune, deputy director of the state Department of Transportation’s Harbors Division. Grune said he was concerned about adequate parking for the proposed 200-seat restaurant.
Some charter fishing boat operators at the harbor said they worried about the compatibility of a restaurant fronting the harbor where they take tourists on excursions.
"It’s not what you do in front of 10 charter fishing boats hanging fish,"said Robert "Capt. Tiger" St. Romain.
"It needs to be a Harbor Pub, a Nico’s. An Italian restaurant? Crazy. You’re asking for a failure."
Anthony Ching, HCDA’s executive director, clarified that an Italian seafood restaurant is being proposed, and that the restaurant could buy fish from harbor tenants and generate business for charter boats.
"We believe this is the type of activity that will bring new life to the harbor," he said.
Ching said he plans to discuss options with the board to see if there is any future for the idea.
Bellavita made an unsolicited request to lease an empty 3,000-square-foot building at the harbor owned by HCDA, and sought a one-year exclusive period to negotiate a lease.
Bellavita is headed by Masahiko Nakamura, a restaurateur who operates several Italian restaurants in Japan.
Nakamura was an alpine ski instructor for about 30 years in Italy, and proposes renovating the Kewalo Basin building into a family-style Italian restaurant.
The building, which fronts Ala Moana Boulevard but faces the ocean, was previously used by a variety of tenants, including dive shops, a parasail business, a fishing supplies store and a police substation.
There are only 15 parking stalls in front of the building. More parking is spread around the harbor, though charter boat operators said parking is tight.
