Sharks Cove plan must regain trust

Developers may have a good concept for developing a retail complex in Pupukea, across from Sharks Cove. Unfortunately for them, that’s almost beside the point. No project should advance until this company resolves the breach of trust it has created with the city, and with the community.

Andrew Yani and Lawrence “Cully” McCully Judd III are the principals in Hanapohaku LLC, and they are now seeking a special management area (SMA) permit for the 2.7-acre property where a group of food trucks and a couple of concessionaires now are doing business.

The property would accommodate multiple one- and two-story retail buildings, eight food trucks and covered parking. It would connect to the parking lot of the existing Foodland supermarket.

The permit will require a more intensive environmental review than Hanapohaku’s current operation, which was established after purchase of the property in 2014. The food trucks and some supporting construction — including tables, benches, decks, fencing and temporary bathrooms — have lacked required permits.

Three violations were corrected, but the two that remain — issued for a deck with plumbing, and for illegal commercial uses — have generated fines that continue to mount.

Yani and Judd have sought an end to the impasse. First, they applied to the city Department of Planning and Permitting for “minor” SMA permits for each of the three subdivided parcels.

Those permits were granted in sequence, months apart, but critics have complained that the three were part of the same unified project. Securing three minor permits where a major SMA clearance was needed circumvents the regulatory process, state Sen. Gil Riviere rightly observed.

The developers have met with the community to draw up the new plans for a major permit, and that turnabout was a needed first step. But they have seemed unwilling to take the next step toward a legitimate operation by first ending the illicit activity.

They have opposed shutting down the operations because the food trucks that are their tenants would lose business. That argument falls short. The developers fostered this situation. And, the truck owners are free to secure permits for a more mobile business elsewhere while the permit process proceeds. These are operations that are meant to be mobile, after all.

Of course, Hanapohaku could no longer collect revenue from tenants during the interim. The whole purpose of land use regulations in the sensitive shoreline area is to allow careful review of environmental impacts before the activity is permitted — not to allow profit-taking in the meantime.

And the company needs first to settle its fines with the city, which are significant. The deck and the commercial-use violations have incurred fines of $32,500 and $12,000, respectively, with the latter offense continuing to accrue fines of $500 a day.

Hanapohaku describes its planned project as a “rural community-based commercial center” that will mesh well with the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan. Whether or not it can be designed to minimize traffic congestion — a major concern among some in the area — is a question that the environmental review will have to answer.

The permit undoubtedly would include some robust conditions for the operation, aimed at managing its environmental impact. However, it’s impossible to trust that these land owners will follow whatever rules the city sets if they are so willing to flout the rules now.

There’s a reason why the city takes a go-slow approach to development. Neighborhoods along the North Shore already are straining to cope with the crowds, including many tourists lured by the rustic charm and natural beauty of the place.

It takes time to define the boundaries for permitted activities. Hanapohaku needs to give the city that time, and the community the respect it deserves.