LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The Kaua'i-Ni'ihau Island Burial Council yesterday rejected a burial plan proposed for 30 ancient Hawaiian burials on a North Kaua'i beachfront houselot.

The proposed plan was a revision of an earlier plan that Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe ruled Sept. 15 had been improperly approved by the state Historic Preservation Division.

In moving to reject the October revision, Burial Council member Kunane Aipolani said, "I'm not comfortable with the definition of 'preserve' — we need to define it more clearly."

The proposal sought to "preserve in place" the burials, including seven located underneath the house that is under construction on the 15,667-square-foot lot.

Several members of the Burial Council said they didn't expect a house to be built on top of the burials after they voted in April for the graves to be preserved in place.

The burials under the raised foundation of the house have been covered by with 4-inch-thick, 6-foot-diameter cement slabs that Burial Council Chairman John Kruse yesterday likened to "sewer covers."

Nancy McMahon, deputy state historic preservation officer for the Historic Preservation Division, said she will continue to seek input from Native Hawaiian groups, including the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, about the burial plan the Burial Council has now rejected.

McMahon said she has e-mailed copies of the revised burial plan to some groups that indicated interest and met with some individuals.

Judge Watanabe ordered the consultations to occur as part of her finding that they had not been properly conducted before.

Kruse described the fate of the burials and whether the house will be allowed to remain on top of them as "being in limbo right now," pending the completion of those consultations.

"I'm happy. I finally feel like they're listening," said Nani Rogers, who along with fellow Kaua'i resident and native Hawaiian Jeff Chandler has been pushing the burial council to take a stronger stand in defense of the iwi kupuna (human remains) since April.

"I finally feel like they felt our sincerity and compassion and our spiritual and cultural sense of how we protect iwi," Rogers said.

"I don't know what effect the council's action will have," homeowner William Brescia's attorney, Walton Hong, said after the council decision.

Hong said he wasn't sure what kind of construction activity has been going on at Brescia's property since Watanabe's Sept. 15 ruling.

The archeological study of the site says the burials could be 1,000 years old.