Jeffrey Primack speaks in support of his application

(BIVN) – On Thursday, the Hawaiʻi County Windward Planning Commission continued a hearing on a permit application to legitimize a qigong and wellness retreat near Hakalau.

Jeffrey Primack applied for a Special Permit to legitimize the operation that includes overnight accommodations for up to twelve guests and the development of a certified kitchen on a 15-acre portion of a larger, 98-acre parcel on ag land off Kama’e’e Road.

Primack has been a student of qigong since 1996 and “has been teaching qigong, breathing, and food-based healing technique workshops and seminars in Florida and around the world,” the county planning department said, adding that he purchased the Hawaii Island property in 2008.

Soon after Primack’s house was built, the planning department says, “he extended invitations to his close ‘inner circle’ of friends, associates, and a few of the regular attendees and practitioners of qigong from events around the mainland.”

“In January of 2017, the applicant was cited with a zoning code violation for offering unpermitted retreat functions on the subject property,” county planners say. “The applicant chose to request this special permit to allow for special events to be provided on the subject property as a corrective action of the zoning code violation.”

After hearing from Primack, the planning commissioners voted to grant the Special Permit.