Mayor Kirk Caldwell has signed two bills into law to pave the way for Haseko’s last phase of its Ewa Beach development.
Bill 62 rezones about 50 acres within Haseko’s lagoon development area to allow for resort, apartment, industrial, business and preservation uses between White Plains Beach and Oneula Beach Park. The zone change accommodates an update to the Hoakalei Master Plan that features a recreational lagoon instead of a once-envisioned marina as the area’s focal point.
Bill 63 amends the boundary of the special management area for a lagoon with no direct ocean outlet.
In a Sept. 21 letter to the City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee, Caldwell said his administration supports Haseko’s project, citing the benefits it would bring to the community.
“Haseko is now seeking to build out the commercial portion of the project, welcoming all local residents to enjoy the lagoon and retail component parts of the project,” Caldwell wrote in the letter supporting Bill 62. “It will also bring much-needed construction and long-term jobs, and will serve to enhance the livability of all communities in Ewa.”
Caldwell did not comment further on his decision to sign the bills Friday.
The Council voted to approve the bills and Resolution 16-180 this month after the measures were introduced more than a year ago. Resolution 16-180 grants a special management area use permit and shoreline setback variance for, among other things, boardwalks and covered pavilions within the 60-foot shoreline setback area.
The Zoning and Planning Committee held a series of meetings on the measures during the past year, drawing residents and officials to testify both in support of and opposition to Haseko’s 1,100-acre Ocean Pointe and Hoakalei development.
Several residents and union representatives testified during the past year that a resort area would bring social and economic benefits to the community. But other community members raised concerns with, among other things, development near the shoreline, lagoon safety and homeowner fees. Homeowners sued Haseko in 2013 for the decision to build a lagoon instead of a marina.
Councilwoman Kymberly Pine, the Leeward Coast representative, had expressed frustration at previous meetings that many of her amendments were not included in the final draft of Bill 62. Pine, who owns a Haseko home, had pushed for, among other things, regulations to homeowner fees, a requirement for Haseko to build a gradual slope for its 19-foot-deep lagoon, and to keep preservation land near the Hoakalei Country Club.
Raymond Kanna, Haseko’s executive vice president, said in a statement Monday that the company “remains committed to realizing our decades-long vision of Hoakalei as a mixed-use waterfront community that will bring economic benefits to the community.”
