Residents near trailhead try talking it out first

The popular Maunawili Falls trail on Oahu’s Windward side has a trailhead in a quiet neighborhood, and the neighbors have been feeling the effects. So it’s understandable that the Maunawili Estates Community Association, tired of inconsiderate hikers trashing residents’ property and blocking driveways, would seek relief. In this case, the association has gone to court — not to sue anyone, but to ask a state judge to require mediation among the association, the state, city and a private landowner.

That sounds like a reasonable request. As more and more people use social media to seek out Hawaii’s once-serene hiking trails, the burden on those living near the trails will only grow.

Another high-rise in Waikiki gets a hearing

It’s another tall tower planned for urban Honolulu, but 133 Kaiulani seems to have better public relations than other projects.

Testimony at a public hearing Thursday mostly favored a proposed 350-foot condominium-hotel tower on the King’s Village retail complex site in Waikiki. The tower would be higher than the parcel’s 240-foot limit, but it would also be thinner and sleeker than it could be, and have less impact on views of Diamond Head, the ocean and the Koolau Range.

The city’s regulations allow for such flexibility. And while city and state planners have been criticized for allowing variances to development master plans, a spokeswoman for one of 133 Kauilani’s developers noted that “no variance is being requested.”

While nearby residents fear the worst — 30 months of construction noise culminating in a giant wall — others believe the project will revitalize a declining part of Waikiki. Let’s hope the worst won’t materialize, and the best will.