Board rejects Paradise Park approval
BRUCE ASATO / 2014
Darryl Wong, son of Paradise Park founder James W.Y. Wong, had hoped to renovate and reopen Paradise Park in the back of Manoa Valley as a botanical garden with cultural exhibits and hula.
The owners of the long-closed Paradise Park will have to seek state approval again to develop a tourist attraction with commercial hula shows and other Hawaiian cultural elements in a garden setting on their Manoa Valley property.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted unanimously Friday not to extend an approval for the work that it OK’d in 2014, in part because it seemed that the public was left out of presenting views on the plan two years ago.
Suzanne Case, the board’s chairwoman, said it didn’t seem that BLNR’s 2014 approval was made with full public input.
“Obviously, there’s a need for deeper community engagement,” she said.
Case made her comment after four hours of public testimony and debate where mostly Manoa residents complained that they weren’t properly advised of the board’s 2014 consideration of the Paradise Park improvement plan. The previous approval expired in October.
About 15 people expressed opposition to the plan, though at least as many or more who signed up in person to testify weren’t able to because earlier items on the board’s agenda took more than five hours to get through.
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Ellen Watson, a Manoa Neighborhood Board member who said she can see Paradise Park from her kitchen, said a presentation to the community board from a park representative in 2014 was vague and gave residents no idea the extent of what was planned.
“We didn’t even see it coming,” she said. “We never had the time to say anything.”
Dale Kobayashi, another neighborhood board member, said four letters about the plans in 2014 that the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands indicated it sent to the Neighborhood Commission Office, which routes material to neighborhood boards, weren’t received.
He questioned why that was so, and suggested that it could be because Paradise Park operators and its supporters know that many Manoa residents have long resented an attraction that brings tour buses through their neighborhood.
“There is a 50-year history of community opposition to Paradise Park,” he said.
Friday’s BLNR action did not decide on the merits of what is proposed. But clearly, there are many residents — old ones and new ones — willing to fight the plan.
Mike McFarlane, Manoa branch representative for the Outdoor Circle, said the organization delivered a petition to BLNR with 1,694 signatures opposing the Paradise Park renewal plan.
Lucy Inouye said it was one of the best days in her life when Paradise Park shut down in 1994. She said tour buses used to stop outside her home on Oahu Avenue to let passengers take in the view, and that her kids couldn’t play outside for fear of being run over.
“We don’t want to listen to their hula shows,” added Daniel Trockman, who moved into Manoa three years ago and has complained about noise from the existing Treetops Restaurant at the old park operating until 10 p.m.
Paradise Park opened in 1968 as a botanical and zoological garden on conservation land before many of the Manoa homes nearby were built. Local developer James W.Y. Wong, now 96, created the park as an exotic-bird attraction that included aviaries, duck ponds and a 300-seat covered amphitheater.
The state approved a conservation district use permit for the operation in 1966 — and that permit is still valid long after the park’s closure.
In 2014 Paradise Park Inc., now led by Wong’s son, Darryl, applied to modify the permit to allow a “Hawaiian Cultural Center” that would qualify as a botanical garden and only require renovation of existing facilities and redoing landscaping.
The $15 million project includes nine gardens with indigenous and nonindigenous plants, Hawaiian cultural displays, a descriptive history of Manoa Valley with a replica summer home of Queen Kaahumanu, a hula museum and hula shows.
A luau is also part of the plan but was not included in the application because it was expected to be in a third phase.
Derwin Hayashi, a local attorney representing Paradise Park, told the state board Friday that two luau buildings were in the 1966 master plan and could be added later because they are allowed under the existing permit.
However, some board members questioned whether an environmental impact statement would be required for new construction. Many Manoa residents asked for an EIS for the initial phases of the proposed work, though that is not deemed by the state to be necessary because renovation work is generally exempt.
BLNR board member Chris Yuen said it didn’t seem right to have three phases planned while seeking approval for only two so that the issue over whether an EIS is required doesn’t come up until much of the project is done.
“I have some serious questions,” Yuen said.
Thomas Oi, another board member agreed. “I think that this is the cleanest way to do it,” he said.
18 responses to “Board rejects Paradise Park approval”
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Derwin Hayashi, a local attorney representing Paradise Park, told the state board Friday that two luau buildings were in the 1966 master plan and could be added later because they are allowed under the existing permit. ?
What the heck, how can a permit last for 50 years to build ? Only in Hawaii, this is insane !
agree..and the wishes of the community need to be considered. It does not seem like a very “Hawaiian” facility.
They should go back to at having the beautiful parrots there that they had back in original park. They can also do whatever majority public wants on top of that. Would make a wonderful sanctuary.
I’d pick a Hawaiian cultural park over performing birds.
The true objection(s) should be about the horrid food that’s been served up there for the past decade.
Loved taking my kids to Paradise Park. I miss it.
I remember it too and have relatives living right up alongside the park property as well. But this is Hawaii, our idea of fun and entertainment is avoiding getting stink eye when surfing, trying to avoid giving stink eye when driving in eternally gridlocked Honolulu, receiving stink eye from boutique clerks when shopping at Ala Moana, and well…the stink eye list could go on. You are not allowed to have fun in the stink eye state.
yikes!
You clearly live in a different part of Hawaii than the rest of us, maybe on ‘Poor-poor-me’ Street?
The Board truly made the right decision on this. After 50 years, the community was finally heard. Thank you to the members of the Board who acknowledged that the slate needed to be wiped clean, and that denial of the extension represents an opportunity for things to be done right. The assertion by the attorney regarding the luau pavilion is suspect. The administrative record clearly states that in order to build anything beyond the existing structures a new CDUP is required. Granted, the Board over the years has set different triggers for when a new CDUP would be required (at one point saying switching to a Hawaiian cultural theme and updating outdoor exhibits would require it; at another point saying that a new CDUP would be required for increasing the number of buses over 6 per day…) and ignored them when making decisions later. This Board appears to be very different though, as yesterday’s decision indicates. The Park still retains its original permit which does allow up to 430,000 visitors per year and 24 buses daily – but until the Park gets approval to repair the facilities and landscape to the degree needed after 20 years of near dormancy, those numbers will not be realized. Check out the Save Manoa Valley blog for audio of testimony and the Boards decision. A link to Save Manoa Valley’s testimony is also there which includes a timeline and narrative of the administrative record since 1966, and discusses the luau pavilion issue. Thank you again to the Board for truly fulfilling its mandate on this one. <3
Yes, all buildings and homes in Manoa should go through a re-permitting process to make sure that they all meet current legal standards under State and City zoning and building laws. I am sure that the Save Manoa organization would want to make sure that all laws, and especially environmental laws, are being complied with by all the landowners in Manoa.
The force of NIMBY is too strong in Manoa……time to admit defeat and sell to the highest bidder?
or turn the park into a sleep center?
Or put it up in your neighborhood.
Back in the day Paradise Park was a nice nature environment to spend an afternoon at without having to travel far. It’s a shame that people are opposing it now just when the owners want to revive it. These kinds of attractions give tourists and locals alike more options without having to go to a neighbor island and helps Oahu’s economy. Manoa is a beautiful place and more people should be able to enjoy its ambience.
Let them rebuild it the way it was in the 90’s !! (no luaus) A City bus went up nearby Paradise Park and I’d like to go there and wander around,then just sit in a peaceful place!!!
Thank you James Wong for creating such an incredibly wonderful place.
Condemn it. Turn it into public park and nature preserve.
Better yet, the city can buy it for a homeless camping site. Keep up out of aikiki and Kaka’ako.