Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

Makiki residents are a little tired of heavy population densities in their area and high-rise buildings blocking their views of prominent points on the Island, community leaders told the city Planning Commission today.

Those relatively negative comments were not made to oppose any proposed legislation, but rather to support efforts to clamp stricter building controls and expand the small Punchbowl Historic, Cultural and Scenic District.

Eight community leaders, seven of them from the Makiki Neighborhood Board, testified in favor of a bill that would extend the boundaries of the district, restrict building heights, require greater setbacks, and provide more open space and landscaping.

Hank Prohm, a Makiki Neighborhood Board member, told the commission that residents in the Punchbowl-Makiki area are a bit weary of increased population being concentrated there and that the bill addresses some of the problems.

"There’s a lot of people jammed into a small place," Prohm said. "It has to be planned well."

Bill Henslee, another neighborhood board member, said the slopes of Punchbowl, if not protected, "will be masked by a curtain of high-rises."

Alice Guild, neighborhood board chairman, said although the neighborhood board has not had time to review the bill, it "does reflect the desires of the people in the area."

Under the bill, the district would generally cover from Nuuanu to Punahou Street, including Punahou School, and mauka of the H-1 freeway and Vineyard Boulevard.

The maximum height limit in the district would be 250 feet, but there are areas plotted out by maps designating height restrictions, ranging from 25 to 250 feet, which city planners say will preserve views of the historic landmark. Some of the precincts have 125 feet height limitations.

Another restriction would be that open space for 5,000 square feet lots would be 50 percent and for larger lots, 60 percent.

Building setbacks would be a minimum of 20 feet for buildings taller than 30 feet unless they are on certain streets.