Tag Archives: Hawaii Reserves

Oahu General Plan Provides Diversification & Sustainability

Ko'olau Region Larry McelhenyPublished March 5, 2015 Civil Beat http://www.civilbeat.org/2015/03/oahu-general-plan-provides-diversification-and-sustainability/

Who can quarrel that “diversification” is essential for long-term dividends and sustainability?

Within a typical business portfolio, diversification mixes a variety of investments as part of a risk management strategy.

Similarly, the Oahu General Plan provides such diversification by designating regions like Ko’olauloa as “rural country”, counter balancing high-density regions regions like urban Honolulu.

In fact, Hawaii is the only state in the Union that has an over-all comprehensive land-use plan and designations. The “Hawaii State Plan” HRS §226 – aim for wise use of Hawaii’s resources and to guide future development of the State. It includes providing a basis for determining priorities and allocating limited resources, such as public funds, services, human resources, land, energy, water, and other resources.

On the county level, the “General Plan” is a requirement of the City Charter.  The desirable future for the Island of Oahu is organized through deliberations on the long-range social, economic, environmental, and design objectives for the general welfare and prosperity of the people of Oahu.

This General Plan balances eight (8) different diversified regional plans for the island of Oahu.

  1.        Primary Urban Center
  2.        Central Oahu
  3.        Ewa (Secondary Urban Center)
  4.        East Honolulu (Urban Fringe)
  5.        Ko’olaupoko (Urban –Fringe)
  6.        Ko’olauloa  (Rural)
  7.        North Shore (Rural)
  8.        Waianae (Rural)

 General plan map

The Oahu General Plan designates Ko’olauloa  as RURAL where “agricultural lands are preserved for agricultural uses,” with “the ‘ahupuaa concept as the organizing basis for land use planning and natural resource management in Ko’olau Loa.”

It further specifies that Koolauloa’s natural resources and predominantly “rural” character should be maintained by allowing only limited development in established communities, and that agricultural lands along the Windward be maintained for diversified agriculture. Open space and view planes are also valued.

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Bill 47 –  Mayor Mufi Hannemann/Caldwell’s Footprint:

The current Bill 47 is the 2010 Hannemann/Caldwell Draft of Koolauloa Sustainable Communities Plan (KSCP).  This 2010 Hannemann/Caldwell KSCP Draft contradicts  the values and vision as outlined in the 1999 KSCP , the Oahu General Plan, and Hawaii 2050 Plan.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann unilaterally inserted the new subdivision at Malaekahana  into the 2010 KSCP Draft just before he resigned to run for the 2010 gubernatorial race. His Managing Director Kirk Caldwell became the Acting Mayor.

This Hannemann/Caldwell 2010 Draft created much friction and push back from Ko’olauloa residents.

Moving the Community Growth Boundary to Malaekahana for 875 homes, a regional commercial center, industrial, technology parks, schools, and vacation cabins on 900 acres (now 300) of agricultural lands obviously violates the KSCP and Oahu General Plan.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell Follows Mufi’s  Footsteps:

Mayor Kirk Caldwell continues his support for a new subdivision in Malaekahana based on alleged “overwhelming support for affordable housing and that it could be provided by HRI” and that “Envision Laie is a long range proposal to grow the Brigham Young University of Hawaii (BYUH) and associated support services.”

Furthermore, Caldwell also supports the highly controversial Koa Ridge and Ho’opili subdivisions by arguing it is in the Oahu General Plan that was initiated in the 1970s.

Factually, the rural KSCP that they chose to violate has also been in the same Oahu General Plan since the 1970s! He cannot decide when to wave the Oahu General Plan card or when to ignore it.

Honolulu Rail and the “Keep the Country Country” Rationale.

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Mayor Kirk Caldwell and other rail advocates have repeatedly urged residents to support the Honolulu Rail   in order to “Keep the Country Country” (to  contain urban sprawl by concentrating development along the 21-mile rail corridor).

This rationale for the Honolulu Rail and Transit-Oriented development in order to “Keep the Country Country” continues to be marketed today.

We now respectfully ask Mayor Kirk Caldwell and others to be consistent and to walk the talk.

City Council Zoning and Planning Chair Anderson Corrects the Course:

We are heartened that the City Council Planning & Zoning Committee Chair Ikaika Anderson has amended Bill 47 to now conform to the letter and spirit of the existing KSCP and the Oahu General Plan.

This is a welcome action on many different levels.

This Honolulu City Council has the opportunity to stem the divisiveness and pilikia amongst Laie residents and the entire Ko’olauloa moku on this issue alone.

The common complaint has been that Mayor Mufi Hannemann offered special treatment to Laie due to his close affiliations.

Envision Ko’olauloa, not  Envision Laie.

These amendments, that many see as positive, to remove Malaekahana from the KSCP Draft will turn a page and heal the rift and angst.

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The City Council’s pono leadership to make things right will help restore respect  and neighborliness along the Ko’olauloa region.

Above all, it will present new opportunities for hopeful residents to explore realistic goals for personal temporal well-being instead of depending on HRI’s perennial enticements that have not come to fruition in decades. The carrot stick of “affordable housing   is dangled whenever Zions Securities/HRI needs community support for its own profit schemes. Imagine, if the faithful hopefuls had bought homes 20 years ago, their mortgage would have been nearly paid off today.

Adhere to the Oahu General Plan:

The Oahu General Plan is not perfect but it provides land-use diversification and sustainability for our small island home.

If the State and County land use principles are adhered to, much of the divisiveness can be easily avoided and communities can turn attention to collaborative projects that benefit the majority of the public.

The City Council’s correction of this controversial deviation from the General Plan will set a pono path for the future of Ko’olauloa.

Ko’olauloa Neighborhood Board #28 Faces Another Controversy

The Ko’olauloa Neighborhood Board #28 is facing yet another controversy today. Residents are questioning the format of today’s agenda. The Ko’olauloa Neighborhood Board #28 has 11 seats with 7 members having close ties to the Envision Laie Team.  Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Acting-Mayor Kirk Caldwell inserted “Envision Laie” into the Ko’olauloa Sustainable Communities Plan (KSCP) amidst protests from members of the KSCP Advisory Committee.

There are talks of forming a new independent organization as many feel the Ko’olauloa Neighborhood Board #28 does not represent the overall public interest of the region.

For today’s meeting, one standard agenda is deletedPUBLIC INPUT/COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS (2 Minute Limit per Speaker). This deletion of PUBLIC INPUT has raised past infractions of this board.

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Koolauloa Neighborhood Board No. 28

Printable Version (copy and paste into browser)

  http://www1.honolulu.gov/nco/nb28/13/28201311Ag.pdf

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013

HAU’ULA COMMUNITY CENTER

54-010 KUKUNA ROAD

 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.

ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK MUST FIRST BE RECOGNIZED BY THE CHAIR. EACH SPEAKER WILL BE ALLOWED TWO (2) MINUTES – THE TIME LIMIT WILL BE ENFORCED. IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUNSHINE LAW AND ROBERT’S RULES OF ORDER, THE CHAIR, IN THE INTEREST OF MEETING EFFICIENCY, MAY LIMIT THE NUMBER OF TIMES A PERSON MAY SPEAK ON ANY ONE AGENDA ITEM. THE BOARD ALSO PRACTICES CIVIL DISCOURSE AND SPEAKERS WHO STRAY FROM CIVILITY WILL BE CALLED OUT OF ORDER.

 

I.              CALL TO ORDER – Chair Verla Moore

II.         HONOLULU FIRE DEPARTMENT (HFD)

III.        HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT (HPD)

IV.        APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 10, 2013 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

V.         TREASURER’S REPORT – Larry Nihipali

VI.        GOVERNMENT REPORTS Three (3) Minute Limit per Speaker

A.    Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s Representative – Justin Gruenstein

B.    Council Chair Ernie Martin and/or Representative – Chair Martin or Mike Sakata

C.    State Legislators

VII.       NEW BUSINESS 10 Minute Limit per Speaker

A.    Presentation by La`ie Community Association (LCA) Seeking Board Support for Envision La`ie and Ko`olauloa Sustainable Communities Plan – Pane Meatoga, Jr., LCA President

VIII.      BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS

A.    Board Recess in December 2013

B.    Next Meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 9, 2014, 6:00 p.m. at the Hau`ula Civic Center, 54-010 Kukuna Road.

C.    `Olelo Broadcasting – The regular Board meetings air on the 4th Friday at 9:00 p.m. on Channel 49, and on the 2nd and 4th Sunday at 12:00 noon on Channel 54.  

 

IX.        ADJOURNMENT 

cp3 Many feel it’s presumptuous for Pane Meatoga, President of the Laie Community Association to speak for the whole region of Ko’olauloa.

It’s Laie versus the whole region at this point. The surrounding communities and neighborhood boards want “Envision Ko’olauloa“,  not myopic “Envision Laie”.

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