The developer of Hoakalei Resort in Ewa Beach has published new details of a proposed recreational lagoon that it wants to substitute for a previously planned marina — including a cost comparison and a way to regulate lagoon use.
Haseko (Hawaii) Inc. said its planned lagoon will cost an estimated $87 million, or $7 million more than its abandoned plan for a boat marina, according to a draft environmental impact statement published Tuesday.
The draft report also said a permit system is envisioned to regulate use of paddleboards, kayaks and other nonmotorized watercraft on the lagoon.
Haseko has previously emphasized that its lagoon will serve as a better amenity for the general public compared with a 600-slip marina and boat launch ramps.
Haseko said in the report that balancing public access to the lagoon and swimming cove with the needs of a private residential and resort community is a key aspect in realizing its vision for the new amenity.
The developer anticipates a fixed number of watercraft permits will be allocated among Hoakalei homeowners, resort operators, rental businesses, cultural activity groups and the general public. The number of permits will be based on a carrying capacity of the 50-acre lagoon. How many permits and how they are divvied up are among plan details that are in the early stages of development, the report said.
A shallow swimming cove — possibly one of several — is another part of the lagoon plan that will be open to the public and regulated to some extent by the availability of paid public parking.
Haseko intends to build a 200-stall lot adjacent to the swimming cove but said public access to the lagoon area will be available through a network of trails reachable via neighboring Oneula Beach Park and White Plains Beach.
Haseko also is seeking to change where it can build 950 visitor accommodation units for hotel, time-share or condominium use up to 90 feet high.
The developer would like to expand its resort-zoned land to 46 acres from about 38 acres, and to split what is one resort-zoned parcel mauka of the planned lagoon area into three parcels that include an 8-acre piece bordering the ocean shoreline at one end of the lagoon.
Haseko’s lagoon plan has drawn a mix of praise and opposition from residents, including many who live within the developer’s master-planned community that includes the adjacent Ocean Pointe subdivision.
Lots of public comments were included in the draft environmental report, including some from Dee White-Gettle, an Ewa Beach resident who said she prefers a lagoon but is concerned with accessability.
"Will parking be affordable for people from our community?" she wrote.
Another Ewa Beach resident, Kerrie Prowse, said the swimming cove would be ideal to take her two small children and husband on weekends. Hoakalei resident Karen Copeland expressed a similar view.
However, other Hoakalei and Ocean Pointe homeowners want a marina, including Raquel Larson, who called the lagoon idea a "huge disappointment," and William Bryan, who said the main reason he bought a home at Hoakalei was to park his sailboat.
Haseko announced its intent not to fulfill its marina plan in 2011 because of what it said was weakened demand for slips and ongoing and possible future legal challenges to government approvals for the marina channel that attracted much opposition from conservation and cultural interests.
The decision came 14 years after construction began on the 4,850-home master-planned community originally named Ewa Marina that today includes Ocean Pointe and Hoakalei. Haseko is largely done excavating the water basin but has yet to cut a channel to the ocean.
The entrance channel dredging is the biggest cost in completing the marina plan at $27 million, according to the environmental report.
A lagoon circulation system is the biggest cost for the lagoon at $13.3 million. Other lagoon-plan costs include $6.3 million for a shoreline interpretive trail, $7.1 million for the public swimming cove and $6.4 million for a residential club called Wai Kai Hale Club.
The swimming cove would be created by excavating a roughly 1-acre area outside the existing basin up to 5 feet. Water from underground wells would be pumped into the cove to exchange the cove water about four times a day. Water would exit the cove by gravity and be injected into wells not connected to the supply wells.
The report said it could take 10 to 15 years to build out the lagoon area including adjacent homes and hotel or time-share properties, though Haseko previously estimated it could complete an initial portion of the lagoon — the west end — late next year.
