The long-delayed update to the Ewa Development Plan was approved unanimously by the City Council Zoning and Planning Committee on Thursday, positioning it for a final vote of the full Council in the weeks ahead.
Ewa region residents who testified at Thursday’s meeting were split on the proposed guide, designed as a planning tool for development.
Some opponents urged Council members to remove the proposed 12,000-unit Ho‘opili housing community from the plan or at least hold more public hearings on it.
But those who support the current version pushed for speedy passage, arguing that progress has been hindered during the 13 years it took to get to this point. City planners are supposed to revise each of the island’s development/sustainability plans every five years but have been hard pressed to do so, largely because of staffing restrictions.
Council Zoning and Planning Chairman Ikaika Anderson, in recommending that his colleagues approve the plan, told the opponents that there is still opportunity for them to voice their objections to individual projects.
The Ewa guide, like other city development plans, is only a recommendation, Anderson said.
"They do not have the force of law," he said. "So we can go outside these development and sustainability plans when the community feels we need to do that. We can, in fact, deviate from these plans if, in fact, that’s what the affected communities desire to do."
Although the state Land Use Commission approved the Ho‘opili project last year, it still needs rezoning from the Council to proceed.
Several West Oahu area residents said there is a strong need for both housing and construction jobs on the Ewa Plain and urged the Council members to move the plan forward.
Melissa Lyman, an Ewa Beach resident and president of the Kalaeloa Heritage and Legacy Foundation, said she and her husband first moved into the area because of the promise that it would be developed as Oahu’s "Second City."
Since then she’s been involved in various community groups tied to master-planned growth for the area.
"It is a wonderful thing to see the area of the Leeward Coast being able to grow in the way that it is," Lyman said through tears. "I believe wholeheartedly that the people of the Leeward Coast will benefit with jobs, with affordable homes. One of the reasons we moved out to Ewa was because 21 years ago that was the only place my husband and I could afford to live other than Las Vegas."
But Pamela Boyer, who runs four farmers markets on Oahu, said retaining agricultural lands is more important than building more homes there.
"Please don’t lose this land," she said. "We need this land to grow for our future. It doesn’t matter how many houses we have if we can’t feed the children that are in it. You can build houses anywhere, but once that ag land is gone, it’s gone."
Cameron Nekota, a spokesman for Ho‘opili developer D.R. Horton, said his company has helped Aloun Farms and other farms make arrangements to farm lands further mauka.
Kioni Dudley, leader of the community group Friends of Makakilo, said serious questions remain about whether there is enough groundwater in the area to sustain the anticipated development and whether enough improvements can be done to the H-1 freeway and other roads to ease the extra burden caused by Ho‘opili residents.
Dudley and others who oppose the current Ewa draft plan said they want the city to move the Urban Growth Boundary to exclude Ho‘opili from development. The city Department of Planning and Permitting shot down 14 other changes recommended by opponents, Dudley said.
Lifelong Ewa Beach resident Glen Oamilda criticized the city for not doing enough public outreach about the Ewa plan. He urged Council members to hold at least one additional public meeting "and go over all these amendments … so we can discuss and dialogue."
Too many supporters are focused on their niche interests and not looking at far-ranging issues, Oamilda said.
But Councilwoman Kymberly Pine said the public could have commented at any of more than 35 community meetings going back over a decade.
In a curious historical note, Deputy Planning and Permitting Director Art Challacombe said Kahaluu in Windward Oahu was designated as the island’s future "Second City" until 1973, when planners shifted focus to the Ewa plain.
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ON THE NET:
» To see the latest draft of the plan, visit bit.ly/16DsmlD.
