Developer is asked to ID land for housing in Laie

A City Council committee asked Hawaii Reserves Inc. on Thursday to come up with a revised plan that does not include developing the Malaekahana section of Laie after residents raised concerns over how increased development would affect the rural community.

Councilman Ikaika Anderson introduced Bill 1 last month, which amended the Koolauloa Sustainable Communities Plan to exclude HRI’s Envision Laie plan, a proposed 300-acre community next to Laie which would include about 875 housing units, where a minimum of 50 percent would be affordable. As part of the Envision Laie plan, HRI aimed to expand Brigham Young University Hawaii’s campus. HRI manages BYUH and the Polynesian Cultural Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Anderson’s proposal would delete all references to HRI’s Malaekahana development from the text and map of the Koolauloa plan. The bill was deferred Thursday to give HRI time to compile an updated plan and to look for other suitable land for housing in Laie.

“In good conscience I just simply did not believe it pono to develop a third city in that particular area,” Anderson said. “I do understand the need for affordable housing and the desire to keep our families close together. I do commend HRI for being willing to offer an alternative that confines additional housing for the community in Laie.”

But area Councilman Ernie Martin said he also introduced a bill that is pending before the Council that omits the Malaekahana development. He expressed concerns over the need for affordable housing in the area.

At Thursday’s Transportation and Planning Committee meeting, Eric Beaver, HRI’s president, said he would need about a month to identify other properties that could be suitable for housing in Laie.

“We are open to looking for other lands within the boundaries of the Laie ahupuaa to see if we can find suitable sites and locations for housing so that the existing housing, at least that’s on the current plan, is not completely erased or lost,” Beaver said. “(But) to just say there’s no housing designation, there’s no housing whatsoever for that community, I think that feels very unfair.”

But Margaret Primacio of the Defend Oahu Coalition said adding more housing to the region would severely affect already congested Kamehameha Highway. She said she is open to hearing HRI’s new proposal but was adamant that development projects should be kept within the growth boundary. Primacio, who along with others wore green shirts emblazoned with “Keep the Country Country” at the meeting, also raised concerns over the loss of agricultural land.

“Nobody said no more housing. Do it within the boundary,” said Primacio, a Kahuku resident. “We live out there. How it affects us matters.”

Kathy Sokugawa, acting director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, told committee members that DPP had initially supported the Malaekahana development to address a need for affordable housing. Several years ago Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration had introduced a draft of the Koolauloa plan that included the Envision Laie development by expanding the Urban Growth Boundary. But Caldwell changed his position last year.

“We are grateful that the plan is moving forward,” Sokugawa said after the meeting. “We are disappointed that it doesn’t have a strong provision to address affordable housing, but all is not lost. We have to wait for the next chapter.”