New draft of bill omits Malaekahana expansion

Honolulu City Councilman Ikaika Anderson wants to move quickly on a proposal that would presumably end the idea of developing the Malaekaha­na section of Laie.

Anderson last week said he is introducing a new draft update of the Koolauloa Sustainable Communities Plan that leaves out Hawaii Reserves Inc.’s Envision Laie plan, a proposed 300-acre community next to Laie. HRI manages Brigham Young University-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and wants to be able to expand the BYUH campus.

The community has waited four years for the Council to take a vote on the Koolauloa plan, Anderson said.

A majority of the people living in the area do not want Malaekahana developed, Anderson said. Newly installed Council Chairman Ron Menor, whom Anderson supported, promised that Bill 1 will get its first airing before the Council later this month, Anderson said.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration, several years ago, introduced a draft of the Koolauloa plan that included the Envision Laie project by expanding the plan’s so-called Urban Growth Boundary to encompass it. But last fall, after receiving an endorsement from the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter’s Oahu group, Caldwell said he had had a change of heart on the matter.

Councilman Ernie Martin, who represents Malaekahana, had held up moving the Koolauloa plan the past several years, arguing that the Department of Planning and Permitting should first complete a revision of the Oahu-wide General Plan to guide the island’s growth.

But some have pointed out that the community plans for other parts of the island have moved through the Council despite the lack of an updated General Plan.

Anderson said the current General Plan designates the Ewa-Kapolei region as Oahu’s second city.

“I have no intention whatsoever of creating a third city out in the country at Malaekahana,” he said.

State Sen. Gil Riviere (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua) said the city’s Koolauloa plan has not been updated in 10 years even though it’s supposed to be done every five years.

“It’s pretty clear that every community, outside of one or two, are absolutely opposed” to Malaekahana development, he said.

State Rep. Sean Quinlan (D, Waialua-Kahuku-­Waiahole) pointed out that a single highway serves the area from Haleiwa to Kahaluu.

“The highway is in horrible condition,” he said. “It’s eroding along the coast, and anyone who’s been in our neighborhood recently has experienced the gridlock that we experience every day out there. Adding additional burden to that highway is just beyond comprehension.”

Margaret Primacio of the Defend Oahu Coalition said she’s troubled that HRI’s Malaekahana plan would eliminate valuable agricultural land. “We have many farmers in our community without a chance to farm,” she said. “We need to concentrate on developing more farmland.”

Martin told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he also supports leaving “the ahu­puaa of Malaekahana” in its current state but said the city needs to consider allowing HRI “some degree of development” in other portions of Koolauloa because of the need to house the area’s future generations.

While he understands why development of Malaekahana raises concerns, Martin said, the Council can’t ignore the needs of those who want more housing in the area. “That would blatantly (be) unfair to the families of residents of Koolauloa.”

Martin questioned why Anderson is introducing a new bill when another measure that he introduced is already pending before the Council. The latest draft of his bill also deletes the Malaekahana development, he said.

Anderson announced he would introduce a bill when he held a news conference Wednesday with people from Laie, Kahuku and the North Shore as well as representatives of the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter and Defend Oahu Coalition behind him.