At the base of Waialae Iki in East Honolulu, a hillside has been undergoing a dramatic re-contouring with excavators cutting deep benches and leaving scarred rock faces visible from Kalanianaole Highway.

The work, going on for months, has been a curiosity for many and a concern for some who question what effect it’s having on the stability of land above existing homes and Aina Haina Elementary School, on drainage and on the neighborhood’s character.

What’s being built on the 3.3-acre site zoned for residential use is a foundation for eight single-family homes.

However, a lack of communication about plans has left many people wondering what’s going on and has led to misinformation and frustration.

“I drive by it every day,” said Heather Lum, chairwoman of the Kuliouou-Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board. “It’s alarming. The neighborhood board has no information about this.”

The situation led City Councilman Trevor Ozawa, who represents the area, to recently implore the City Department of Planning and Permitting to share what it knows with the neighborhood board after the board made repeated unfulfilled requests since August for DPP to send a representative to convey project details.

The owner of the property, local cabinet and picture frame manufacturer Kent Untermann, acknowledges that he hasn’t communicated with the community. But he said that’s because he felt verbally attacked when he and his wife, Lori, presented a prior plan for the site to the neighborhood board in 2006.

“It was like a lynching mob,” he said. “So I promised my wife I wouldn’t do it again.”

Permit application

Untermann, a former University of Hawaii football player who operates 14 Pictures Plus, Island Sole and Plus Interiors stores, bought the land in 2005 for $1.2 million. That year he applied to build 16 homes — a pair of three-story buildings each containing six homes, a three-unit townhouse and one single-family home. Zoning standards permit up to 17 homes on the site based on land area, though Untermann sought a special permit for cluster housing that would disturb less land.

Area residents denounced that plan, calling it a blight that could set a precedent in single-family neighborhoods. Minutes from a September 2006 neighborhood board meeting said 93 of 105 community members at the meeting opposed the project. The board voted 12-0 to urge DPP to deny the cluster home permit.

DPP denied the permit in large part because the project’s design and density were inconsistent with the neighborhood. “Given the high visibility of the site and the nature, scale and scope of the development, the proposal would significantly alter the form and appearance of the hillside, and create a negative impact,” DPP said in a report.

Untermann said his current plan is to build eight homes, each containing on average 3,000 square feet of living space on lots averaging 15,000 square feet off an extended Kiai Place. The first home, for which a revised permit will be sought, will be for Untermann and his wife, who previously lived on nearby Hawaii Loa Ridge.

“They’re not monster houses,” he said. “I want this to be incredibly well done.”

Untermann said engineers and other professionals are addressing issues including land stability, drainage and aesthetics.

Stabilizing land

By terracing the slope and removing soft soil, Untermann said he’s making the hillside more stable. “It’s really stable,” he said. “We’re not building on anything with clay. Everything we’re doing is built on rock.”

To address rockfalls, Untermann plans to build a boulder-resistant fence behind the homes he builds. Vegetation, he added, will be planted to grow on the fence.

Rain runoff, which also has been a problem on the site in its natural state, will be reduced to benefit the neighborhood below, Untermann said.

As for appearance, Untermann agrees that the current look is ugly but that the homes and landscaping will cover up what is there now and blend nicely into the neighborhood.

“We’re really doing things right,” he said.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been problems. The school complained about rock hammering, and Untermann said he has confined that work to when there is no school. Containing stormwater on the construction site also has been a problem during heavy rain.

Rich Lew, who has owned a home below Untermann’s property since 2002, said Untermann shouldn’t be unfairly restricted from using his land. But he is concerned about construction affecting his house, including a crack in a backyard retaining wall that Lew said has grown since work began.

Lew added that he understands why Untermann didn’t present his new plan to the neighborhood board because of the 2006 meeting, which Lew was at. “I felt bad for him,” Lew said. “They really were blasting him.”

Some area residents contend that Untermann shouldn’t have been allowed to do what he’s doing now, and they claim the city hasn’t properly issued permits for grading and the first house.

“We are relying on DPP to keep neighbors safe,” Lum said, adding that she believes Untermann is illegally building on his site.

Project questioned

Marie Riley, a board member of the Aina Haina Community Association, questions whether Untermann submitted satisfactory plans to DPP for addressing runoff, land stability and possible archaeological features on the site.

“I think this project has to be stopped,” she said.

Untermann said he is addressing all concerns and submitted all necessary plans to the city.

Tim Hiu, deputy director of DPP, told Ozawa at a March 22 City Council meeting that Untermann’s project met all requirements for permits. Hiu also committed to participating in the neighborhood board meeting scheduled for tonight.