Scale back on Laie plan’s sprawl

For the past several years, Hawaii Reserves Inc. (HRI), the land management arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been pitching variations on a proposal for a land use change — scrapping agriculture for housing and other development — as a means to expanding its residential reach in rural Laie.

So far, its “Envision Laie” bids have been blocked, in part, by opponents in neighboring communities dotting North Shore and Windward areas, who rightly point to the strong possibility that such a change in land use could quickly overburden the region’s already fragile roads, sewer capacity and other infrastructure.

But on Monday, the City Council Planning Committee gave its initial blessing to an expansion that would allow 400 additional housing units: half on HRI land that’s now reserved for ag and ranching, and half within the borders of the Brigham Young University-Hawaii campus.

This proposal — presented by Councilman Ikaika Anderson as a “compromise plan” between those who want more housing and those who don’t — has one likely big winner: HRI, which stands to reap real estate-related benefits. Meanwhile, it appears the city would be making concessions that outweigh possible gains.

As the plan goes before the full City Council for the second of three required readings, Council members should scale down the plan — by half, at least.

The request for more workforce housing units on campus grounds seems reasonable, given a rising enrollment. (In a separate request, BYU officials are seeking city approval to add a total of about 1,000 dormitory beds on campus.)

But city leaders should say “no” to the push to do away with ag land zoning in an area known as North Laie. These farmlands should remain available to tap as Oahu aims to boost its food security.

What’s more, due to geography constraints, Laie is simply an ill-suited place for a significant housing boom. For starters, the two-lane stretch of Kamehameha Highway that edges the community also hugs an ever-eroding shoreline. With over-capacity headaches already routine, this roadway cannot easily handle the traffic bump that would accompany 400 more homes.

Back in 2009, the church unveiled Envision Laie as a 50-year plan that included a whole new town with 1,200 homes, a shopping center, churches, parks and a light industrial park in Malaekahana. In response to opposition from “keep the country country” groups and others, the vision has been tweaked several times.

HRI, which manages or owns slightly more than 7,000 acres of land in the area, has long contended that more housing, and affordable housing in particular, is sorely needed for the families who live and work there. But that inventory has barely budged as HRI maintains that much of its land is not suitable for homes as it’s downwind of a sewer plant, on steep slopes or in low-lying flood-prone areas.

Should HRI get a green light to build homes, it has said it expects to abide by the city’s affordable housing rules, which reserve some units for residents in moderate- and low-income brackets. Given Oahu’s housing shortage, that’s a plus. However, expensive infrastructure upgrades could fall to city taxpayers, so that aspect needs vetting.

If the City Council approves the expansion plan, the move would amend the Koolauloa Sustainable Communities Plan — a conceptual master design for Oahu’s rural stretch from Kaaawa to Kawela. Each of the island’s eight regional plans is supposed to be updated every five years, but the Council has not been able to approve an updated Koolauloa plan since deliberations focused on the Malaekahana-Laie section began in 2013.

Councilman Anderson is acting responsibly in seeking to find a middle ground that helps ease the housing crunch in Laie while addressing valid concerns linked to a larger residential inventory. But for the sake of fending off creeping urbanization, current zoning designations should stay put.