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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Mahealani Martin held a sign on Thursday in protest of a project in Waimanalo that would clear parts of Sherwood Forest for a multi-purpose field.
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When it comes to the city’s improvement project for Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.
Some Waimanalo residents and others, angry about clearing parts of what’s known as Sherwood Forest or Sherwood’s, have been turning out in force recently — including a public meeting last week and Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s State of the City address Thursday — holding signs and demanding that the project be halted.
They have a point. Bulldozing a well-loved forest to make room for sports fields, playgrounds and a parking lot, with anticipated traffic and environmental problems, sounds like something a lot of community members might oppose.
It’s too bad they didn’t raise such forceful objections a lot sooner. The Waimanalo Bay Beach Park Master Plan has been in development for years. Public hearings were held as early as 2010, with a final environmental assessment (EA) posted in July 2012, after a 30-day public comment period.
Work has already begun on Phase I, with $1.43 million of public funds committed. Caldwell said that pulling out now would cost about $300,000, with nothing to show for it.
Three City Council members — Heidi Tsuneyoshi, Kymberly Pine and Ikaika Anderson — have asked Caldwell to stop the work. They will have to make a persuasive case for possibly wasting $300,000 in taxpayer money: The EA is fatally flawed, perhaps. Or conditions have changed, making the master plan outdated. It does seem clear that the public vetting of the master plan failed to fully vet the depth of community concerns. Even so, Caldwell is right about one thing: Public projects shouldn’t stop just because “a certain group says stop.”