The developer of a proposed controversial zip line and nature center in Waimalu is dropping its effort to build the $1 million attraction.
Towne Development of Hawaii Inc. notified the state Department of Land and Natural Resources in an Aug. 19 email that it was withdrawing its application for a conservation district use permit. Its proposal had called for seven pairs of zip lines and a 1,200-square-foot nature center on a 447-acre property zoned for conservation above the Royal Summit neighborhood in Aiea.
DLNR’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands has removed the permit request from its active applications listing on its website. The department has requested that the developer send a formal withdrawal letter.
“We have no intention of pursuing the Waimalu Nature Park and Zipline project,” said Chris Lau, president of Towne Development, in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday. “We believe that the property has very unique features and we will continue to look for alternative uses.”
Lau would not provide further comment.
The nature park that had been proposed, on the parcel in Newtown where there are about 2,500 homes, was a permissible use for the conservation land.
DLNR had determined that the social and economic impacts to the community needed to be addressed, and was awaiting an environmental impact statement that was due by October. The department also pointed out that Oahu’s visitor attractions have generally been located in designated areas, including Waikiki, Ko Olina and Laie.
Towne has the option of reapplying for the permit, according to the department.
But the proposal was met with stiff opposition by residents and officials who contend that the project would turn their quiet community into a tourist destination. Opponents raised concerns about increased traffic, some suggesting that the nature center served as an excuse to obtain a permit.
Towne said in an environmental assessment that the project would have a minor impact on traffic and would help to fix a trespassing problem on the property. The company also said it would operate an average of 15 tours each day and would set up a collection point where vans would make about 33 round trips a day. Visitors would not be able to drive or walk onto the site, the company said.
A petition signed by 1,488 residents opposing the project was sent to DLNR. More than 150 Aiea-area residents attended a hearing last year, when many testified against the project — including then-City Councilman Breene Harimoto, then-state Sen. David Ige and then-state Rep. Mark Takai. The Aiea Neighborhood Board also voted unanimously to oppose the plan last year.
“When a contractor is told by the community, ‘We don’t want that in our backyard,’ the contractor ought to listen,” said Ron Mobley, second vice chairman of the Aiea Neighborhood Board, who has lived in Newtown for about 30 years. “We hope that that was part of the reason, but we don’t know.”
Mobley added that as long as the property is there, “anyone else can make a proposition.”
However, he said, “I think they’ve gotten the word that there’s going to be a fight if they put it in this neighborhood.”
