Future transit-oriented development planned around the over-$10 billion Skyline rail project has been in the works for years.
To that end, the city Department of Planning and Permitting announced it will hold a community meeting Wednesday to address proposed land use changes that could allow for TOD development around three city rail stations in the East Kapolei area.
The changes include effects on the area’s TOD Special District boundary, zoning, as well as certain state land use district boundary amendments. Some land use changes mean the existing agricultural district will be replaced with an urban district, which allows for city zoning, DPP said.
The meeting — to present and answer questions and to gather feedback on these land use proposals — will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Honouliuli Middle School Cafeteria, 91-559 Maunakapu St. in Ewa Beach.
“TOD projects are important so residents and businesses can fully benefit from the Skyline system,” Tim Streitz, DPP’s acting administrator for its TOD division, told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser. “As rail station areas build out by utilizing the new zoning and incorporating the development standards of the TOD Special District, these communities will become desirable places to live, work, and visit as a result of mixed uses being located in close proximity of stations and designed with pedestrians and rail riders in mind.”
He added, “East Kapolei TOD allows for large-scale development with less impact to streets than other Ewa developments since it can utilize Skyline.”
Those changes affect a trio of rail stations:
>> East Kapolei Station, or Kualakai, which serves Kapolei, Makakilo, Ewa Beach and outlying residential areas.
>> University of Hawaii West Oahu Station, or Keoneae, serving the school’s campus and outlying residential areas.
>> Honouliuli Skyline station, or Hoopili, which is meant to serve the future residential community of Honouliuli and outlying residential areas.
To help implement the TOD plan, the city proposes an expansion of the State Land Use Urban District, new mixed-use zoning and a TOD Special District to increase density and regulate the site layout and ground-floor building design of new development in East Kapolei, the city said.
According to the city’s TOD zoning plan, the zoning around the rail stations is generally transitioning to higher-density mixed-use districts from lower-density single-use districts. The new districts allow for more flexibility of uses on the same property, such as buildings with housing above street-level retail.
“Currently, DR Horton is the main developer,” Streitz said, “but other large property owners are advancing from planning to development stages.”
One large development project — Hoopili — is being built by DR Horton as a master-planned community that overlaps into the TOD area, he said.
“Hoopili is projected to provide approximately 11,750 dwelling units overall — not all within the TOD area,” he said. “The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has also prepared a master plan for development of its land adjacent to the Keoneae station and along Kualakai Parkway up to the H-1 freeway.”
UH West Oahu is also updating its long-range master plan for both its campus and land surrounding the campus. In addition, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has planned for some multifamily projects in the future near the Kualakai station, he said.
“We estimated during the development of the East Kapolei Neighborhood TOD Plan that the TOD neighborhood could accommodate approximately 10,600 dwelling units,” Streitz said. “The state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is completing an infrastructure master plan for the East Kapolei TOD area that will incorporate updated plans from landowners that will likely revise those numbers upward.”
But Mikiala Lidstone, vice chair of the Makakilo- Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, said she has concerns about what appears to be unplanned development underway in Kapolei.
“It seems like development is going up without thinking about the safety or well-being of the surrounding communities,” she told the Star-Advertiser.
And Lidstone noted that one development — a proposed 900-unit housing project by Ikenakea Development and The Michaels Organization in North Kapolei — will be sited much farther away from the rail line than she’d like.
“That seems really antithetical to just the whole rail: to put so many high- density, affordable units so far away from mass transit,” she asserted. “When that developer came before the board, that was a question we had: Why is that development not going closer to the rail station?”
Lidstone said her neighborhood board “suggested the developer look for more spaces around the rail.” Such projects, she added, also could increase traffic congestion as well as negatively affect pedestrian safety.
As far as proposed land use changes for East Kapolei, DPP said it will submit a final proposal this summer to the Honolulu Planning Commission, which will make a recommendation to the City Council for review and adoption.
In addition, DPP noted it recently mailed notices to property owners who may be affected by the special district, zone change and/or state land use district boundary amendment. Property owners are encouraged to attend Wednesday’s meeting.
The proposed changes and additional information are available at 808ne.ws/4iblqVO. For more information, call DPP at 808-768-8000.
