HANALEI — Nearly 150 people crowded into the Hanalei School cafeteria Tuesday
night to discuss a draft of the General Plan Update—many of them opposed to a
proposed housing development north of Kilauea.
Some carried “Just Say No”
signs with the name of Kilauea North developer Jim O’Connor in a circle with a
straight, diagonal line drawn through it.
The proposed development has been
included in land-use maps attached to the General Plan draft despite widespread
community sentiment against it.
A door-to-door residential survey in
Kilauea showed 79 percent of 403 respondents opposed to the housing project,
and the Kilauea Neighborhood Association submitted a formal request for removal
of the project from the maps.
Paule Brie, owner of Mango Mamas in
Kilauea, asked why the proposal has been allowed to remain in the plan even
though the community is against it.
County Planning Director Dee Crowell
said proposed developments included in the Discussion Draft are based on
information provided by large landowners and determined by the Planning
Department as places where growth, if wanted by the community, could take
place.
“We can definitely massage this proposal,” Crowell said.
“That’s
totally unacceptable,” Brie shot back. She asked if any of the 10 proposed
General Plan changes to potentially allow new development came from grassroots,
community organizations.
“No,” said Robin Foster, of the Honolulu planning
firm PlanPacific, lead consultant in the General Plan Update process.
The
sometimes-rowdy crowd wasn’t assuaged by Foster’s comment that a number of
revisions would be included in the Discussion Draft before it is forwarded in
final draft form to the Planning Commission.
One speaker said removing the
Kilauea North proposal before the plan gets to the Planning Commission is
critical.
Many residents wanted to hear from planning officials that the
Kilauea North project would be removed from the General Plan.
No such
assurances were granted.
Kilauea Attorney Ken Carlson, a member of the
Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) working on the General Plan Update, said the
KNA did an unprecedented job of polling and informing the community, and that
Planning Department and KNA representatives should sit down and share
notes.
The CAC may be the appropriate body to eliminate the Kilauea North
plan from the General Plan, if it desires.
Dr. Gary Blaich explained that
the KNA board has formed a committee to deal with long-range planning issues
for Kilauea.
A North Shore woman said people were told they would have the
opportunity to provide input on the Discussion Draft, but worries that there is
no real mechanism in place to ensure community-desired changes are
made.
Another speaker worried that proposed developments at Kilauea and
Princeville (mauka of the highway), plus build-out of residential lots from
Hanalei to Ha’ena, could more than double the North Shore’s population in the
next 20 years.
“This plan is only additive,” said Beryl Blaich. While there
are several new proposals, none are offered in exchange for parcels with
existing zoning but no development plans.
She suggests the county’s
Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO) be amended before the General Plan is
adopted. The success of the General Plan depends on amending the CZO, she
said.
The current Discussion Draft has no mention of transfer of
development rights, she noted.
Princeville resident Walter Lewis said he
worries that the Discussion Draft as written supports unlimited growth, while
he supports controlled growth.
The draft needs much more discussion, he
said, adding that he’s not in favor of rushing to adopt the plan.
Beau
Blair, addressing concerns of her Ha’ena-Wainiha community, said she and others
are concerned that bed-and-breakfast operations and vacation rentals have
turned her once-residential community into a resort community.
In turn,
that has displaced many North Shore residents, and altered the North Shore’s
greatest asset: “Its quiet rural pride and tranquility,” she said.
You
can’t even borrow a cup of sugar from a next-door neighbor, because there’s “a
different neighbor every week.”
She requested a moratorium on all permits
until the county can get a handle on all the commercial uses in residences
there.
All of Ha’ena and Wainiha is flood and tsunami zones, yet little is
done to let visitors know of these potential perils. She also said there is no
information in rental cars to let visitors know about one-lane-bridge
etiquette.
The Princeville Mauka project is designed to include 700
dwelling units and 15 acres of commercial land, as well as school sites, said
Mike Loo of Princeville Corporation.
Some voiced concerns that having
intermediate and high school sites at Princeville might preclude similar public
schools from being established in the established residential communities of
Hanalei and Kilauea.
Another speaker asked why more about education isn’t
included in the plan, when much discussion is given to highways, which are also
under the jurisdiction of state government.
As education is listed among
the top three most-important things in nearly all quality-of-life surveys, the
General Plan should mention it in more than just passing, the speaker
said.
Foster explained that the General Plan is more focused on
land-use.
Don Heacock said, to applause from the crowd, that the island
should be split into seven planning districts, with councilmembers elected by
district.
Ray Chuan called for Mayor Maryanne Kusaka to move off her
“fast-track platform” in regard to processing the revised plan. And County
Councilmember Gary Hooser said the Council won’t rush the plan adoption
process.
Despite speculation that the Council will fail to adopt the plan
this year, which is an election year, Hooser said he figures if the Council
gets it from the Planning Commission by April, it will be acted on before the
end of 2000.
