Kualoa Ranch plans to expand operations

A local ranch popular for its recreational activities and scenic tours wants to expand but needs city approval to lift restrictions on its operations.

Kualoa Ranch in Windward Oahu is proposing to add new buildings and roughly 100 more parking stalls, extend its hours of business and lift caps on the number of visitors and recreational vehicles it can have.

The family-owned ranch estimates that its expansion plan would cost $4.4 million and not create significant negative impacts on the environment, agricultural operations or the community.

“It’s not huge growth,” said Jeff Overton, a planner with Honolulu design firm G70 and consultant to the ranch. “It’s a soft-footprint kind of approach.”

Still, the plan, which is subject to a public hearing and modification of a city permit, could raise concerns over the growth of what was initially approved in 1985 as a relatively small tourist attraction on land zoned for agriculture.

Kualoa Ranch described its plan in a draft environmental assessment published Dec. 23 by the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.

The proposed changes, if approved, would represent a major change to a visitor attraction that has evolved over the last three decades.

Originally, the roughly 4,000-acre ranch sought to diversify beyond raising cattle, horseback rides and crop farming as a way to generate additional revenue and keep the ranch running and in the hands of descendents of Gerrit P. Judd, who purchased the property from King Kamehameha III in 1850.

The city Planning Commission approved a special-use permit in 1985 that allowed outdoor recreational activities including all-terrain vehicle rides, paintball games, target shooting, helicopter tours, scuba diving, jet-skiing, sailing and windsurfing.

Ranch representatives at the time offered to limit operations to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday to avoid worsening rush-hour traffic and said the “activity club” would be for 20 to 100 guests each weekday. Also, the ranch proposed 10 to 20 all-terrain vehicles for guided trail tours.

“Any impact of the activity club will be minimal since it will be operated as a private organization on a very limited basis,” the ranch said in its proposal to the city at the time. “The number of guests, the types of activities and the hours of operation are carefully controlled so as to cause little or no disturbance to the local residents.”

At a 1985 public hearing, some area residents expressed concerns about traffic, and an attorney representing the ranch reiterated that the proposed limitations addressed those concerns.

The Kahaluu Neighborhood Board endorsed the plan but expressed concern over whether the proposed limitations would be binding.

Ultimately, the city Planning Commission approved the permit with conditions for no more than 100 visitors a day, 20 all-terrain vehicles and the stated operating hours. Any condition changes would be subject to a public hearing and commission approval.

Since then some operations were adjusted. Activities such as the rifle range, diving and jet-skiing ceased. New ones approved by minor permit modifications in recent years include a zip-line and ropes course.

Other parts of the ranch, which employs 270 people, include 500 cattle grazing on 1,400 acres, about 100 horses, crop farming, oysters raised in a pond and aquaculture operations producing shrimp, prawns, catfish and tilapia.

Tours, however, generate more than 90 percent of Kualoa Ranch’s revenue, the environmental report said.

Proposed additions to visitor operations include 13 new buildings that would expand the footprint of activity-related structures on the ranch by 54 percent, to 84,122 square feet from 54,629.

Some of the new buildings would be staging areas for tours that go to places on the ranch such as an ancient fishpond, valleys and sites where movies such as “Jurassic Park” and “50 First Dates” were filmed.

A farmers market, a building to host up to 150 people for weekly culinary experiences, new stables and a facility to process fruits and vegetables grown on the ranch into higher-value food products are also planned.

To accommodate more visitors, the ranch proposes expanding hours for its main activity center to between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. seven days a week. The ranch also wants to do away with a specific limit on visitors and recreational vehicles.

“The ranch is keenly aware that the balance of environmental preservation, agricultural productivity and commercial outdoor recreation is vital, and it feels its management is best suited to maintain that balance,” the company said in the report.

Cathleen Mattoon, a Koolauloa Neighborhood Board member, said ranch officials historically have been responsive to community concerns. She also said she can understand the ranch wanting to upgrade and expand facilities, but she prefers to look at detailed plans before commenting.

A copy of the ranch’s report and directions for submitting public comments can be found at http://808ne.ws/2Cqk3Tu. Public comments are due Jan. 22.