A City Council committee agreed to amend and move forward a bill that would relocate resort zoning away from the shoreline between White Plains Beach and Oneula Beach Park.
Several residents had raised concerns after developer Haseko sought rezoning for about 62 acres of property in Ewa Beach that represents the last phase of the company’s 1,100-acre Ocean Pointe and Hoakalei development. A recreational lagoon will be the area’s focal point.
“I know that Haseko is trying their best. (But) my concerns continue that everything is still in the dream phase, and I worry a lot about the residents that are going to have to pay for this.”
Kymberly Pine
City Councilwoman
The rezoning under Bill 62 would allow for a mixture of preservation, business, industrial, apartment and resort uses around the lagoon.
The company’s development proposal had included 8 acres of resort zoning that several residents contended should extend no farther than Keoneula Boulevard.
Council Zoning and Planning Committee members Monday changed those 8 acres to 4 acres each of business mixed-use and neighborhood business zoning. About 7 acres of land adjacent to Keoneula Boulevard was also changed from business mixed-use with a 60-foot height limit to resort zoning with a 90-foot height limit.
The move to relocate resort zoning mauka of Haseko’s lagoon was seen as a “workable compromise” by the developer and an “improved compromise” by Councilwoman Kymberly Pine, who represents the Leeward Coast and is a Haseko homeowner.
The committee moved Bill 62 for second reading along with Bill 63, which would amend the boundary of the special management area to reflect a lagoon with no direct access to the ocean. Both bills were deferred in November after committee members listened to about an hour of public testimony from about 30 residents.
Alicia Maluafiti, an Ewa Beach resident, told the committee Monday that she supports Haseko’s development and added that the lagoon would offer a good, safe alternative for families.
“This is a good project, and … at the end of the day, it’s a great compromise,” Maluafiti said. “I think we’re always going to have sort of the folks who are living within the development and the folks that don’t live there kind of butting heads a little bit.”
But Ewa Beach resident Douglas Correa said although “there were some good points brought up on both sides,” he still remained concerned about possible flooding problems and how the development would affect fishermen who use the beach.
“I know we need homes, but I wouldn’t just jump in and say, ‘Yeah, go for it,’” Correa said. “There’s just too much stuff unanswered. … I understand new development got to be done, but at what cost?”
Haseko is allowed to build 4,850 residential units and 950 visitor units in the area. The rezoning request would not affect those numbers.
“We think we’ve come to some workable solutions for the issues that were raised,” said Jim Niermann, a planner with R.M. Towill Corp., who spoke on behalf of Haseko. “We know there’s going to be compromise.”
The committee also approved an amendment to Bill 62 offered by Committee Chairman Ikaika Anderson prohibiting hotels in the business mixed-use areas.
Other changes introduced by Pine would “ensure open access” to the lagoon based on marketing and other representations made to homeowners, such as allowing children of all ages in the entire lagoon, not requiring safety vests and not placing a limit on guests.
Pine also questioned Haseko about the funding for a swimming cove that will be located in the northwest corner of the lagoon, and raised concerns about costs to homeowners once construction of the lagoon is completed.
Raymond Kanna, Haseko’s executive vice president, said the swimming cove alone would cost an estimated $7 million to construct, which the developer is paying for, and about $1 million to maintain and operate annually. He said Haseko projects that revenue generated from the paid parking lot would offset the cove’s operational costs.
Kanna also said that once the lagoon is completed and conveyed, operational costs would be paid by resort, retail and commercial partners and up to 30 percent by homeowners who pay fees to the Hoakalei Resort Community Association. Haseko expects to cap the monthly cost at $50 per household, he said.
Pine added that “according to what I see today (Monday), 70 percent of the concerns have been met, and I’m actually surprised about that.”
“I know that Haseko is trying their best,” Pine said. “(But) my concerns continue that everything is still in the dream phase, and I worry a lot about the residents that are going to have to pay for this.”
