Local developer and former politician D.G. "Andy" Anderson wants to expand Haleiwa’s commercial core with more businesses and homes, but the project is drawing flak from North Shore residents.
Anderson’s company Basin Project Inc. and developer Backyard Haleiwa LLC are proposing to rezone 7.5 acres of fallow former sugar cane land stretching behind one side of Haleiwa’s commercial district for residential and commercial development.
A consultant representing the two firms shared rough ideas with the North Shore Neighborhood Board Tuesday evening and was met with a unanimous vote opposing any rezoning of the property to BMX-3 community business mixed use.
The board’s 13-0 vote objected to BMX-3 zoning, which allows uses including hotels, bars, automobile dealerships, self-storage facilities and wholesale distribution businesses. The board’s decision also opposed any zoning change not in keeping with the country character of Haleiwa Town.
"We just want to make sure we have zoning in there that prohibits density and land uses that are not appropriate for the town," said board Chairwoman Kathleen Pahinui.
Property records show that Basin Project bought the 7.5 acres in October for $1.9 million from Dole Food Co.
Basin Project informed the city Department of Planning and Permitting in a eb. 11 letter through engineering and planning firm SSFM International that it proposes a rezoning of the parcel from AG-1 (restricted agriculture) to BMX-3. The neighborhood board received a similar letter.
However, at the neighborhood board meeting, project consultant Jared Chang of SSFM informed community members that the type of zoning to be sought has yet to be determined and is being coordinated with DPP.
"We’re not set on any zoning," Chang said in an interview.
Chang described the developer’s vision as very preliminary, and said that only apartment rentals, commercial units, a farmers market and parking are intended uses for the property.
Chang added that no specific commercial uses have been identified or proposed. The density of development and the number of homes also was not specified, though Chang noted that North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan guidelines call for 10 to 20 residences per acre for low-density apartments.
Blake McElheny, a neighborhood board member, said he appreciated the presentation as an opportunity for the developer to gather community feedback. But he said the vague zoning and commercial uses were troubling.
"There is a lack of information," McElheny said. "This did not sit well with people. Certain people were offended, you can say."
Kanani Oury, a Waialua resident who was at the meeting, said it’s scary to think about allowing new zoning that diverges from current zoning in the core of Haleiwa Town, which is mainly neighborhood and community business (B-1 and B-2) with pockets of single-family residential (R-5).
"BMX-3 has such a wide umbrella of what can be developed," she said, adding that Anderson previously, but unsuccessfully, proposed building a hotel in Haleiwa. "It opens it up for everything under the spectrum (of allowed uses) for the rest of time. I think it’s very scary."
Oury said Haleiwa Town is already overcrowded, and that more businesses and homes will exacerbate impacts on traffic and other infrastructure. "I don’t know how it would hold up," she said.
The North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan, a city document, does allow for development and specifically suggests concentrating it along Kamehameha Highway near existing built areas makai of the Haleiwa Bypass Road, also known as Joseph P. Leong Highway.
Policies in the plan include objectives to "preserve and enhance the historic rural ‘small town’ character and allow for a compatible mix of commercial, service industrial and residential uses that complement the rural town context" and to "encourage multifamily housing (low-density apartment districts) and housing for resident senior citizens in close proximity to both Haleiwa and Waialua town centers."
The parcel proposed for development also is within the community growth boundary in the Sustainable Communities Plan.
Basin Project and Backyard Haleiwa said their plan aims to be consistent with the community plan.
Community feedback would be used to develop project concepts and site layout, according to Chang, who said another presentation to the neighborhood board with more refined details will be made. A draft environmental assessment also is being prepared and will provide more information when published.
Anderson, president of Basin Project, could not be reached for comment Wednesday about the development proposal and the neighborhood board’s response. Other officers of Basin Project include Anderson’s daughter, Randolyn Grobe.
The manager of Backyard Haleiwa, Jon Grobe, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Anderson is a veteran developer and retired politician who spent 20 years in the Legislature as well as time as the city’s managing director. He also made two failed bids to become mayor in 1968 and 1972 as well as three attempts to become governor — two as a Republican in 1982 and 1986, and one as a Democrat in 2002.
Anderson’s development projects include the John Dominis Restaurant that long stood on the edge of Kewalo Basin in Kakaako, a restaurant with the same name in Newport Beach, Calif., and the residential subdivision Sunset Beach Colony on the North Shore.
In 2010, Anderson proposed building a bigger replica of the 1899 Haleiwa Hotel on property that includes the Jameson’s By The Sea restaurant across Kamehameha Highway from Haleiwa Beach Park. That plan was contested by many residents and dropped after the city refused to sell a piece of property Anderson needed for the project.
