Column: Retain Kakaako Makai land-use law

In 2005, Alexander & Baldwin proposed a “once in a lifetime” development in Kakaako Makai on 36.5 acres of mostly publicly owned oceanfront land. The plan included 950 residential units in three 20-story towers, retail and dining spaces, and an amphitheater. The proposal met with strong public opposition, and in 2006 the Hawaii Legislature passed a law prohibiting residential development in Kakaako Makai. That law, Hawaii Revised Statute 206E-31.5(2) prohibits any residential development makai of Ala Moana Boulevard between Kewalo Basin and the Foreign Trade Zone.

To resolve a dispute dating back to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ (OHA) formation, and to help satisfy past ceded land payments, then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie offered Kakaako Makai to OHA in 2012. Knowing that residential development was prohibited in this area by state law, OHA accepted the land.

A June 10, 2021, attorney general opinion notes that parcels in Kakaako Makai are state lands, owned by OHA, and that special legislation lifting the residential requirements in that specific area would be in violation of Section 5 of Article XI of the Hawaii State Constitution.

Exempting only OHA land from the prohibition on residential uses of Kakaako Makai would establish a precedent whereby OHA would be given development opportunities not available to other landowners makai of Ala Moana Boulevard. Other landowners makai of Ala Moana Boulevard might question the special treatment afforded OHA.

In fact, there have been several legislative proposals to rescind the restrictions placed on the Kakaako Makai lands since Abercrombie conveyed the land to OHA. A bill currently under discussion at the Legislature would do just that, despite the sound basis used by the Legislature in 2006 to restrict residential development makai of Ala Moana Boulevard. Since the 2006 legislation, the rationale for keeping residential development out of Kakaako Makai has only gotten stronger.

There are many environmental reasons that allowing residential development in Kakaako Makai shouldn’t be permitted.

For example, the land sits on contaminated fill. Between 1913 and 1927 a seawall was constructed; fill including municipal ash, unburned refuse, construction household trash, automobile batteries and unknown refuse was used. This sort of fill could be unstable and cause harm to people living on top of it.

In 1997 the Environmental Protection Agency granted the state Department of Health funds to proceed with a brownfields study of the makai land. The Environmental Hazard Management Evaluation study found that some of the makai locations contained toxic ash from two waste incinerators that spewed high levels of lead, zinc, dioxins, mercury, silver, copper asbestos and arsenic. These toxins were spread as “fill” contaminating the surface and groundwater. Leaking underground petroleum storage tanks also spread benzene, DDT and PCBs from discarded transformers in various locations. Love Canal, one of the situations leading to the passage of the federal Superfund Act, was a situation of housing being built adjacent to a landfill. In addition to the possible exposure of future residents of Kakaako Makai to the contaminants dumped there, this fill may be unstable.

Kewalo Basin and Mamala Bay support coral reefs, local bird populations and provide public recreational opportunities to locals and visitors. Ground disturbances required for foundations and other infrastructure could emit hazardous waste, affecting coastal ecosystems and exposing humans to possible exposure. Precautions taken now may not withstand expected sea level rise, king tides, hurricanes, storm surges, tsunamis and other hazards.

We consider any change to current laws affecting Kakaako Makai to be detrimental to both human and animal life, as well as to our natural environment. It is our hope that the Hawaii Legislature agrees and will not change the current law.

Wayne Takamine chairs the Kakaako Makai Community Planning Advisory Council; Donna Wong is executive director of Hawaii’s Thousand Friends.