Still time to save Kawela Bay

Residents of the North Shore district, whose treasured rural and scenic charms increasingly have run up against urbanization plans, face a narrowing window of opportunity to start building a force capable of preserving more of the Turtle Bay environs than the current developer aims to do.

In particular, it’s Kawela Bay, the undeveloped stretch of shoreline at the north end of the Turtle Bay Resort property, that environmental and community groups want most to preserve in the buildout of the resort. The project is being planned by Replay Resorts Inc., TBR’s development partner that is finally approaching the end game in a decades-old standoff over the expansion plan.

More precisely, there are a few possible end games here, but the one many in the community prefer — a "conservation partner alternative" — will take a nearly herculean effort to pull together enough money to achieve that kind of settlement.

Replay has done a credible job of restraining its footprint, especially at the Kawela side, and the agreement to permanently protect 469 adjacent acres for agricultural use is worthwhile. Additionally, the reservation of 160 housing units to affordable price levels marks a welcome improvement.

But its preferred alternative still entails development at Kawela, as part of an expansion by 625 hotel rooms in two hotels and 590 new resort-residential units.

The Turtle Bay saga dates back to 1986, when the owners of the project struck a unilateral agreement with the Honolulu City Council. The resort — which today retains its original configuration of 500 hotel units and 368 as condominiums — was authorized then to expand to a five-hotel complex with 3,500 rooms and condominium units.

Public opposition to that blueprint culminated in a court case charging that the original environmental impact statement was out of date. The judge agreed and compelled the preparation of a supplemental EIS.

That was recently completed, and the public has until Jan. 7 to comment (see box). It would be wise for supporters of the preservation plan to speak out and convey a sense of urgency to save one of the few remaining unspoiled spots along Oahu’s coastline.

However, that is only a demonstration of public sentiment. The conservation alternative would be a heavy lift, said Lea Hong, director of the Trust for Public Lands in Hawaii. The trust is a national organization that has been working with Replay on the pact for the ag-lands easement and recently completed a similar settlement drawing together partners for the preservation of the Galbraith Estate agricultural park.

But coming to terms over conservation of land that has been entitled for development as a resort, she said, is a very high bar. Whatever partners can be brought to the table will need to offer money to compensate for the loss in resort revenue at Kawela.

The priceless nature of this coastal resource has long been recognized. Former Gov. Linda Lingle put together a working group that in 2008 contemplated ways the state could acquire and protect much of the prime shoreline. The recession and the budgetary crisis put that notion on ice.

However, there is talk among the community and political leadership to revive the working group and help coordinate voluntary land conservation through the sorts of easements the trust has negotiated. The financial package will be tough to assemble, but the effort should be made. One of Oahu’s last pieces of pristine shoreline should not be relinquished — at least not without a real fight.