YMCA tower opposed by neighbors

Residents living near the YMCA of Honolulu have petitioned the city to stop a zoning change application for a planned condominium tower on the YMCA property and alleged that they weren’t properly informed of the plans.

About 170 neighbors of the YMCA on Atkinson Drive near the Ewa edge of Waikiki have sent letters over the past three weeks to the city Department of Planning and Permitting, objecting to a zoning change that would allow the developer to build the tower higher than the current limit.

The letters also urged the department to extend a public comment deadline or halt its review of the project so more neighbors can make their views known.

"It certainly seems that good faith efforts to properly notify the area residents of the zoning changes were not performed," wrote Curt Carson, a resident of the Sunset Towers condo next to the site.

A planning department official said the late comments are being included in the review, though a deadline to comment that ended last month won’t be extended. The department also disagrees that good faith notification requirements were violated.

The developer of the tower called Aloha Kai also says that it sufficiently notified neighboring property owners.

The opposition letters represent an outpouring of new resistance to a project that has been in the works for more than a year.

YMCA officials announced plans in April 2012 to sell most of its property to San Francisco-based MB Property Acquisitions LLC to develop a 120-unit condominium and new facilities for the nonprofit.

MB Acquisitions later notified at least one representative of each neighboring condo building that it would discuss the project at a June 2012 Ala Moana/Kakaako Neighborhood Board meeting.

At that meeting, the developer said it would seek to rezone the 1.8-acre property from A-2, the medium-density apartment district, to AMX-3, the high-density apartment mixed-use zoning so that the tower could rise 350 feet, or 200 feet higher than the 150-foot limit under existing zoning.

The developer has said that a taller tower would allow a slimmer building that fits the context of the existing neighborhood. But neighbors complain that the project will ruin views and increase traffic on a congested street.

In its zoning change application, the developer noted that 120 units and 228 parking spaces could be built under existing zoning, though space for new YMCA facilities would be reduced. That compares with 128 units and 283 parking spaces proposed for the higher tower.

Neighborhood board members voted unanimously to oppose the project because of traffic concerns.

John Whalen, a representative of the developer with local planning firm Plan­Pacific Inc., said in an interview that a shorter but wider building would block more views from the neighboring Sunset Towers.

"It’s a choice between a smaller, shorter, bulkier building and a taller, more slender building," he said.

That distinction was made in the zoning change application, but many neighboring residents complain that they weren’t properly informed that a zoning change was sought and didn’t know they could comment to the planning department.

Under city rules, an applicant for a zoning change must make a good faith effort to notify all property owners within 300 feet of the site.

The department reviews the application, assesses public comments and makes a recommendation to the Planning Commission, which holds a public hearing and renders its own decision. The typical process for a zoning change is completed by the City Council, which also holds public hearings.

One concern, however, is that public input at the earliest government decision-making step, the department review, is more critical because the agency’s recommendation is considered in decisions further down the line.

Some residents at Sunset Towers say that PlanPacific sent a notice addressed to their building that was returned as undeliverable because the recipient was listed as "Condo Master."

Whalen said two notices were mailed to Sunset Towers, one of which was successfully delivered.

But Michael Buelsing, president of the Sunset Towers owner’s association, said no notice was mailed to him.

Buelsing said a notice was slipped under his door, but he didn’t publicize it because he assumed all residents got the same.

Only after contacting the department did Buelsing distribute the information to other board members and the association’s website.

Buelsing sent his own written comments to the department on April 29 saying that redevelopment of the YMCA site should conform to existing zoning.

Ian Washburn, a resident of Atkinson Plaza about a block away, questioned why Whalen, a former director of the agency that preceeded the planning department, would use a questionable mailing list that included "Condo Master" as a recipient when condo board member names and management companies with addresses are easy to look up.

Whalen said rules require use of the department list, and that he tried to ensure property owners received notice by supplementing that list with his own.

About 40 Sunset Towers residents sent letters to the department claiming they weren’t properly notified.

At the Yacht Harbor Towers condo makai of the YMCA, about 130 owners sent the department letters claiming they were unaware the department was accepting comments because they didn’t get proper notice.