Church gets OK to build in Mililani

A controversial permit request to construct a church, parking lot and other facilities on a Mililani Mauka site that serves as a water quality detention basin was approved Monday, despite opposition from several community members.

New Hope Central Oahu’s proposal for the 1.5-acre property along Lehiwa Drive near Mililani Middle School would feature a two-story building, 46 parking stalls and meeting rooms. The property is zoned residential, which allows for a meeting facility as a permitted use with a height limit of 25 feet. It was purchased from Castle & Cooke for $100 in April.

Church officials proposed installing new water quality features that use vegetation and other methods to clean stormwater draining into the basin. Planners maintain that the new features would work more efficiently than what is currently in place.

Church services, which were previously held at Mililani Ike Elementary, would be held Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. In addition, there would be other events and meetings on weekdays for the congregation’s estimated 300 Mililani members.

According to a report by city Department of Planning and Permitting Director George Atta, who approved the conditional use permit, “The proposed use will provide services that contribute to the general welfare of the community at large or surrounding neighborhood.”

Before proceeding to a building permit, conditions set by DPP require church officials to submit an engineering report and an operation and maintenance plan for water quality operations.

Other conditions include providing all needed parking spaces within the property or at a designated off-site area; a ban on holding two events simultaneously unless additional off-street parking is provided; and establishing quiet hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily.

Mike Palompo, New Hope Central Oahu senior pastor, said Wednesday that he’s excited to move forward with the church’s vision, but he raised concerns about DPP’s off-street parking condition.

“We think it’s going to be nothing but positive for the neighbors to have a church that will help people with their marriages, families (and) raising their kids,” Palompo said. “We’re totally sensitive to our neighbors and want them to know that we will continue to be the best neighbor we can be.”

Palompo said church officials hope to start landscaping and installing water quality features in 2018 and finish by 2020.

But the proposal has generated opposition from several community members, many of whom cite traffic, congestion, noise and other concerns.

Several residents said at a public hearing last month that the church is not a good fit for the surrounding neighborhood of 95 homes. They also raised concerns about the proposed operations of the water quality basin and questioned whether the church could maintain and sustain it.

DPP received 25 letters and two petitions with a total of about 325 signatures opposing the project. Opponents of the church plan could pursue an appeal by submitting petitions to the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

Stephen Adler, who lives near the property, questioned how a private entity could take over a water quality basin. Also, he said the proposed quiet hours are insufficient in light of several young families in the neighborhood.

“The people were not heard, and I felt that there were quite a number in the neighborhood that voiced their concerns,” Adler said Wednesday. “We are residential. It’s not meant for that purpose.”

At the public hearing last month, some community members testified in favor of the proposal, saying that the neighborhood would benefit from the church and its various programs and services. DPP received 49 letters in support of the project.

“It has been a good community member when it was at Mililani Ike (Elementary),” said John Geppert, a New Hope Central Oahu member. “I am wholeheartedly in support of this.”

But Doug Wallace, who lives near the site, said Wednesday that while he has nothing against the church, New Hope Central Oahu’s vision could set a precedent for other developers to build on similar properties in the area and islandwide.

“We were shocked and dismayed that this happened,” Wallace said. “Our quality of life is going to suffer, and the character of our community is going to change.”