Kahuku subdivision plan rejected by City Council

The Honolulu City Council on Wednesday unanimously voted down a plan from a developer seeking to create a 91-home Kahuku subdivision largely as affordable housing on agricultural land.

The 9-0 decision followed a recommendation from the city Department of Planning and Permitting to reject the proposal by local contractor Reuben Fung of Oceanview Builders Inc.

Fung sought approval under a state affordable- housing law that can provide exemptions to zoning rules, fees and other requirements for projects where at least 51% of homes are priced for households with low to moderate incomes.

The 17-acre Manager’s Ridge project included 47 plantation-style homes priced from $350,000 to $680,000 for low- and moderate-income households. Another 44 lots were to be offered for sale at “reasonable” prices.

DPP said it could not recommend the plan because in its view trade-offs were too great, including building on 8.5 acres outside the area’s urban growth boundary and on some land that the city seeks to protect as important agricultural land.

There also was opposition from many residents outweighing project supporters who submitted testimony to the Council.

“It was a very detailed and debated issue within the Kahuku community, and we had many opposing this development,” Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi, whose district includes Kahuku, said before Wednesday’s vote.

Councilman Brandon Elefante said during a committee hearing about two weeks ago that in his 11 years on the Council, he had never seen a recommended disapproval from DPP for a project that meets the criteria for potential exemptions under the state affordable- housing law known as 201H.