Developments can evolve, too

A developer’s decision to eliminate a marina from its plans in favor of a recreational lagoon in the Ewa Beach area has angered some past supporters, but others are backing the tranquil enclosed waterway.

The project change seems to strike a positive public-private balance, though it needs further examination before approval of remaining elements of the ambitious addition to the in-progress waterfront community.

Haseko Development Inc. proposes additions to the acreage west of the Ewa Beach community that has consisted largely of a housing development and golf course. The expansion proposed had consisted of a focal-point marina with 2,500 boat slips and 8.5 miles of waterways at its Ocean Pointe/Hoakalei site. Today’s re-imagined plan would eliminate the marina for a recreational lagoon of crescent-shaped beaches, an amphitheater and a floating pedestrian bridge.

Visions similar to Ko Olina Resort’s lagoons and marina already have spurred completion of 3,500 of the 4,850 homes planned in the area. The nearby Ernie Els-designed members-only Hoakalei County Club opened for golf in 2009. Hotel or time-share accommodations and a complex of retailers, restaurants and other businesses also are planned.

Tim Tucker, chairman of the Ewa Beach Community Benefits Group and former head of the town’s neighborhood board, has described the change as a "broken trust" that reneged on boaters who had been "promised new slips and boat launching ramps open 24 hours per day." He also complains about elimination of parks included in the initial plan.

Other nearby residents are not so angry. Rep. Kymberly Marcos Pine (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) sees "a whole new generation of people growing up with the largest enclosed water feature in our community. This will help bring a whole new health culture in Ewa Beach."

That active aspect surely would be a plus. And though this project would seem to be a regional land-use conflict, it bears watching, to ensure that easy public access to the shorelines is maintained. However this development has morphed over nearly three decades, Haseko cannot waver from its intention "to provide extensive public access to its lagoon, promenade, cultural and archaeological sites" and to integrate its shoreline with adjacent beachfront parks.

Plans had called for a 54-acre brackish-water lagoon between White Plains Beach and Oneula Beach Park carved from coral to become a marina. But the marina is being dropped largely because of a lack of demand for market-priced boat slips and the costs to excavate a channel, according to the company.

"Creating a lagoon enables us to achieve our long-held vision of a vibrant waterfront community in a more timely and efficient manner," said Haseko Vice President Sharene Saito Tam.

The project was originally envisioned in 1979 by Colorado-based MSM & Associates as a community built around a marina. Ten years later, Haseko bought the property and development entitlement that had been approved by the Land Use Commission in 1984.

Plans for a development more than three decades and two companies in the making are likely to undergo changes, whether by ups or downs in the economy, a closer examination of the task at hand, the developer’s wherewithal to pull it off or a number of other unpredictables.

Given such circumstances, the project’s latest revision might indeed be lamentable for residents who had banked on a marina. But even the community seems mixed: some say Haseko should be held to promises made, which enjoyed much early support; others say the developer has come through overall. More public hearings are expected as permits and environ- mental approvals are sought, especially over flood-drainage issues. For now, the project evolves again — proving that it behooves stakeholders to keep on top of development promises and community benefits throughout the process.