A key Honolulu City Council member wants to remove all references to a proposed 300-acre community next to Laie from the city plan geared at guiding growth in upper Windward Oahu.
Council Zoning Chairman Ikaika Anderson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he does not support moving the area’s urban growth boundary to allow for a new community in Malaekahana next to existing Laie town. Malaekahana is the most contentious part of the Envision La‘ie plan proposed by Hawaii Reserves Inc., which manages Brigham Young University-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"I’m not convinced any development in that area is pono," Anderson said.
A series of proposed amendments he issued to the Council on Wednesday deletes the word "Malaekahana" from parts of the Ko‘olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan that calls for growth. The amendments, however, leave in plans for growth in Kahuku and Laie.
Bill 47 (2013), which makes amendments to the Ko‘olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan, has been stalled in the Zoning and Planning Committee for more than a year. The deadline for the Council to act on the revised Ko‘olau Loa plan is coming up later this year so Anderson has put the bill, along with his proposed amendments, on the committee’s March 5 agenda.
Anderson said the delay gave time for the more encompassing Oahu General Plan revision to be completed. Additionally, Council Chairman Ernie Martin, who represents the region, asked for time to discuss concerns that had been raised by his constituents.
Hawaii Reserves Inc. wants to be able to expand the BYUH campus at Laie and add housing in Malaekahana, as well as commercial and business development in Laie and Malaekahana. HRI officials say the development is critical to the growth of BYUH, the area’s main employer, the cultural center and Laie.
But Anderson said he can’t justify supporting large-scale and highly contentious development projects like the 3,500-unit Koa Ridge in Waipio and the 11,750-home Ho‘opilibetween Kapolei and Ewa under the guise of "keeping the country country" if he allowed an area like Malaekahana to be developed.
Zoning for Koa Ridge was approved last year, while the Ho‘opili rezoning received initial Council approval Wednesday and is also on the zoning committee’s March 5 calendar.
The Oahu General Plan, the city’s main planning guide for the island, allows for both Koa Ridge and Ho‘opili but it "does not call for such a large-scale development, in terms of moving the urban growth boundary, in Malaekahana," Anderson said. "So I’m merely being consistent with my policy on development — to support the Oahu General Plan and its implementation."
Anderson said he discussed his concerns with Hawaii Reserves officials.
In a written, one-sentence statement to the Star-Advertiser, the company said its development team had not seen any proposed changes to the Ko‘olau Loa plan and "would need to do so before commenting."
Anderson acknowledged that he does not know how his eight Council colleagues will feel about his recommendations.
Martin, who represents the entire north side of the island from Kahaluu to Mililani Mauka, does not appear ready to support Anderson’s recommendations.
"It is my understanding that since the last hearing on Bill 47, Hawaii Reserves has revised the original plan to make its housing component more affordable," Martin said in a statement. "Given the high demand for housing across Oahu, we are hopeful that the project can still proceed, without the necessity of extending the development into Malaekahana."
Further amendments to Bill 47 may be introduced after the committee reviews testimony on the Ko‘olau Loa plan on March 5, Martin said.
Several longtime opponents of the Malaekahana project applauded Anderson’s decision to seek its removal from the plan.
Tim Vandeveer, a spokesman for the Defend Oahu Coalition, called Anderson’s planned amendments a positive development.
He noted that a 26-member advisory committee, consisting of area residents, concluded after three years that neither Malaekahana and Envision La‘ie should be part of the Ko‘olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan. The city Department of Planning and Permitting’s proposed revisions, which included Malaekahana in the original Bill 47, went against the wishes of the larger community, he said.
"It reflected the wishes of a very small segment of the community — that is, the development interests in Laie," Vandeveer said. "Since that time, nearly all the community groups from Waiahole-Waikane to the North Shore have come out against Malaekahana."
Creighton Mattoon, a member of the Koolauloa Neighborhood Board, said Anderson is correct to conclude that Oahu’s housing needs should be met with developments like Koa Ridge and Ho‘opili, and not Laie.
Planners have argued that those developments are needed to "keep the country country" so "urbanization on this side would fly in the face of that statement," he said, adding, "It’s just not good planning."
"Urbanization on this side is a critical issue," Mattoon said. "We don’t have the infrastructure for that kind of development. We have a two-lane highway from Kaneohe to Haleiwa which in some areas is badly in need of repairs and some of it is even eroding into the ocean."
