Turtle Bay is privileged to sit at the nexus of two great regions — the world famous North Shore and the spectacular Ko‘olau Loa. With a rich Hawaiian, ranching, agricultural, military, waterman and tourism history, this area is home to many cultures, generations and opinions.
With the decline of sugar evident in the 1960s, Turtle Bay was first conceived as an economic revitalization opportunity that would provide alternative employment and allow families to remain in the area where they were raised, and their ancestors buried. This need is no less important today.
To realize further employment, and support Oahu’s tourism industry, Turtle Bay was zoned for 3,500 additional units in 1986. This expansion could easily be accommodated on the resort’s land holdings — more than 1,300 acres (more land than Waikiki) and five miles of oceanfront. Still, 3,500 units would have been a significant increase — too much, in the eyes of many community members — and inconsistent with our vision.
The recent supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) process allowed us to reconsider this plan. We started with hundreds of community conversations, for over a year, before introducing our Proposed Action. We are proud of how our plan balances the varied interests of the community, environment and the conflicts between preserving job creation and open space. We understand the importance, and challenges, in balancing interests. We commend the City and County for its similar efforts with respect to the draft Ko‘olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan — which recognizes our position and which we support.
In the course of our ongoing dialogue, we have encountered a lack of understanding with respect to Turtle Bay’s future and some misinformation, too. To provide the facts we set up www.turtlebayseis.com and have encouraged its use. This web site provides details of the SEIS process and our plans.
Our plan has massively downsized our allowable density — by more than 60 percent. We are proposing only two hotel sites, compared to the five allowed. Moreover, we contemplate only 625 hotel units, versus the 2,500 that are zoned. These hotels will be located in the existing core of the resort — not spread out along the coast. Overall, we are reducing our total unit count from 3,500 to 1,375. Notwithstanding this, we are providing almost three times more affordable housing than required. In sum, we are proposing 625 hotel units, 590 resort homes and 160 affordable community homes. This is very low-density.
Our SEIS work confirmed that Turtle Bay is far from the leading cause of traffic problems. Millions of people visit Oahu every year, and more than half of them visit the North Shore. We will invest in traffic improvements. And our voluntary reduction in unit density will have a huge positive impact on mitigating traffic that otherwise might have been generated.
As for open space, there is, and will remain, plenty. We will preserve the 100-acre Punaho‘olapa Marsh. We are voluntarily increasing shoreline setbacks a minimum of 50 percent, and as much as three times, representing 42 acres of oceanfront open space. In addition to this, we are proposing five parks, more than required, totaling almost 75 acres and 12 shoreline public access points. We are also in the process of placing a conservation easement on 469 acres of agricultural land, mauka of the resort, to ensure that this land remains open, and used for farming, in perpetuity. This will provide farm-to-table opportunities for our guests as well as help feed and employ folks within our community.
Despite its smaller scale, our plan still creates significant employment opportunities. We estimate almost 800 construction-related jobs per year, averaged over the anticipated eleven years of construction. This represents more than $470 million in wages. At build out, we project almost 1,200 new permanent jobs at or supporting the resort. This is approximately twice the current level and represents more than $30 million per year in additional, ongoing, local employment income. Currently, we are in the process of completing more than $35 million of renovation work, with local trades, to maintain our competitiveness. We provide good jobs and fair pay. We are proud of our associates and they are proud to work at Turtle Bay.
Notwithstanding all of the foregoing, there are some who would prefer to see no new development, jobs or housing at Turtle Bay at all. We have always welcomed constructive conservation discussions and have been actively participating in such a process with a working group convened by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. If this gains traction, we will continue to advocate for a balanced solution that provides conservation of Kawela Bay and the eastern (Kahuku) side of the resort while maintaining 93 percent of the total projected job creation, and significant tax revenues, by developing the two hotel sites.
Whether we proceed with our low-density development plan, or enter into new conservation partnerships, we hope we have demonstrated, after more than three years at the job, that we are fully committed to unfolding the future of Turtle Bay in the most responsible and thoughtful manner ever seen by the members of our community.
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Drew Stotesbury is CEO of Turtle Bay Resort.
