Decision on Malaekahana housing plan again postponed

Advocates of keeping the Laie-Malaekahana area free from major development were anticipating a favorable vote before a Honolulu City Council committee Thursday, especially after Zoning Committee Chairman Ron Menor joined area Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi in supporting their position.

Instead, the advocates and Tsuneyoshi went away upset and frustrated when three of the five members of the Council Zoning, Planning and Housing Committee decided at the last minute to put off a decision on the issue indefinitely.

“I think it’s one of the most blatant displays of politics that I’ve ever seen,” Tsuneyoshi said after the meeting. “There’s no good reason for why they did what they did.”

“Everybody thought we were moving forward,” said Waialee resident and activist Joe Wilson. “It really felt like the rug was yanked out from underneath of us at the last second.”

At issue is Bill 1 (2019), an update of the Koolauloa Sustainable Communities Plan, which is intended to guide long-term growth from Kawela Bay to Kaaawa. The community has for years been heatedly divided on language in the proposed revised plan that would allow for up to 200 residential units on 50 acres of undeveloped land that straddles Laie and Malaekahana.

Proponents of the development say there’s a dire need for housing in the area and back the plan by HRI Inc., the local management arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church is also the parent organization of Brigham Young University-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center, the two most dominant entities in Laie. But opponents say the area at issue is vital to keeping the region’s rural character and that the development would worsen traffic.

Tsuneyoshi’s proposal Thursday to amend the bill by removing the development received no objections from the five-member committee, and Menor recommended that the bill be approved and advanced to the full Council.

HRI president and CEO Eric Beaver voiced disappointment at Tsuneyoshi’s proposal but indicated he was resigned to it. “We’re unhappy with the removal of 50 acres for 200 housing units that was designed to be for this community,” he said, adding that he was pleased that it continued to allow for up to 200 residential units just outside the BYUH campus.

“I am hopeful that the Council will continue to work on and find a solution for affordable housing for the community overall,” Beaver said.

But Councilman Alan Texeira, who was appointed to represent Windward Oahu through the end of the year after Ikaika Anderson resigned last month, said he would not support the bill because its shelf life will expire at the beginning of next year. Instead, Texeira said, the committee should proceed with Bill 79, a measure he introduced this month that carries the same language as the original Bill 1. Bill 79 was not on Thursday’s committee agenda

“Considering Bill 1 has a shelf life of two months, until January, and with an alternative identical Bill 79 coming up for a second reading as well, out of an abundance of caution, listening to the testimony, the length of discussion, and given our current circumstances, it just seems more appropriate to move this measure that can continue discussion for the next two years should the need arise,” Texeira said.

Council members Joey Manahan and Tommy Waters joined Texeira in objecting to Bill 1’s passage, leaving Menor and Brandon Elefante its remaining supporters since Tsuneyoshi is not on the committee.

Given that the committee needs to “take the matter under advisement,” Menor announced that he was changing his recommendation to a postponing of the vote to a date and time to be determined by the committee’s chairman.

Menor asked Texeira whether he would be open to considering Tsuneyoshi’s amendment. Texeira said he would be.

Tsuneyoshi, struggling to keep her composure, demanded that Texeira clarify his position. She pointed out that with a full two months before the year ends, “there is time for Bill 1 in its amended form to be finished by January 2021.”

Texeira declined.

After the meeting, Texeira told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that his move “is designed as a precautionary measure” because the earlier bill dies Jan. 1. “It just seems more appropriate to move a bill that continues the discussion for two years should something occur,” he said. “What if we cannot meet next month? … This way, the discussion can continue, as opposed to it dying in January.”

After the meeting, Menor did not rule out that a vote on Bill 1 could be held before the end of the year. “I would like to pass out a bill because the provisions of the Koolauloa Sustainable Communities Plan will help to protect the natural and scenic resources and the unique and special rural character of that part of the island,” he said.

Tsuneyoshi and community members remained upset after the meeting.

Margaret Primacio, president of the Defend Oahu Coalition, said her group was disappointed and baffled by the move to shelve the bill when all signs pointed to it passing Thursday.

“We look forward to the committee working some more on it,” Primacio said, noting that she and others have been fighting to stop development of the area since 2013. “We’re aware that it’s been an uphill battle all these years, but we’re hoping some of the other constituents on Oahu realize that this is a gem we can’t lose.”

Kahuku resident Jessica dos Santos said given the global climate crisis and the need for sustainability, “it is disheartening that any of our elected officials would continue to support large-scale developments that the majority of people do not want and that goes against what is really, truly needed right now.”