{"id":7858,"date":"2015-04-01T06:56:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T06:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=7858"},"modified":"2020-11-20T00:57:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-20T00:57:34","slug":"committee-tables-malaekahana-development-city-council-chair-awaits-a-new-general-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=7858","title":{"rendered":"Committee Tables Malaekahana Development, City Council Chair Awaits a New General Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Malaekahana,<\/a>
Malaekahana, O`ahu. Credit: Leslie Kuba<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bill that would keep the urban growth boundary at Malaekahana where it is will die if the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) doesn\u2019t release at least a draft O`ahu General Plan this month or the next.<\/p>\n

On March 5, the Honolulu Zoning and Planning Committee agreed unanimously to amend the bill — Bill 47 \u2013 by removing all references to development at Malaekahana from the updated Ko`olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan (KLSCP). Bill 47 recommends that the City Council adopt the updated KLSCP.<\/p>\n

Committee members voted to pass the amended bill out for second reading by the full council knowing that council chair Ernie Martin planned to hold it until the DPP released the revised O`ahu General General Plan.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown when the department will release the general plan, but it would have to be soon for the council to approve the bill at its July 8 meeting, its last meeting before the bill \u201cexpires\u201don July 13. County ordinances state that bills must be passed within two years of being introduced; otherwise they are filed. Bill 47 was introduced on July 13, 2013.<\/p>\n

Between now and July 8, the council must have a second reading of the bill, a public hearing on it must be held, the Zoning and Planning Committee must vote to recommend a third reading, and, finally, the council must pass the bill at that third reading.<\/p>\n

In addition to the uncertainty over when the general plan will be released, it\u2019s unclear how or whether its contents will affect Bill 47 or the development potential of Malaekahana. At the committee meeting and in news reports, DPP director George Atta stressed his department\u2019s desire to seek ways to alleviate the overcrowding of homes in La`ie and accommodate natural population growth in the region.<\/p>\n

He told the committee there were four options for Ko`olau Loa: 1) allow concentrated development of Malaekahana, as was proposed in the KLSCP his department had originally produced; 2) relax height and density restrictions to allow for vertical growth; 3) spread urban growth throughout Ko`olau Loa; or 4) maintain the current scheme and force residents to find housing elsewhere.<\/p>\n

He seemed willing to explore alternatives to the Malaekahana development plan, known as Envision La`ie, that was largely developed by members and supporters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recommended one way. Actually, I\u2019m open to a discussion of other options if people have another way,\u201dAtta said. \u201cAccommodating increase has to be done in one way or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the DPP, as a condition of the Planning Commission\u2019s approval of the KLSCP, conducted a rough assessment of the current housing potential in Ko`olau Loa. Based on current zoning, the DPP estimated that at most, 537 residential units could be developed on undeveloped lands in Ko`olau Loa, according to a February 2014 letter from Atta to former City Council member Breene Harimoto.<\/p>\n

Harimoto also asked about the potential for additional housing in currently zoned residential areas that are \u201cunder-developed\u201d or which could accommodate additional housing through re-development. In response, the DPP estimated that these lands could accommodate up to 4,300 more residential units. \u201cHowever,\u201d Atta went on to say, \u201cthis figure is not practical because of limitations such as topography and flooding, constraints due to existing facilities, and park use. We believe a more realistic figure is 2,200 units. This number may also be reduced by the availability of infrastructure to support new development and other constraints a landowner may have.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as the number of units that could be built on vacant or undeveloped residential lands  in Laie owned by HRI, Atta said, at most, only 113 could be developed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis small number is based on deleting steep lands, lands impacted by flooding, lands designated for parks and open space preservation, and lands encumbered by existing facilities,\u201dhe wrote.<\/p>\n

At the Zoning and Planning Committee meeting, Atta admitted that the DPP\u2019s computer search of developable lands in Ko`olau Loa was crude.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you do computer modeling, it\u2019s not an accurate picture of true capacity. The analysis must be finer than that,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n

Although the DPP\u2019s housing capacity estimates suggest there could be more than enough currently developable land to meet the region\u2019s housing needs, Atta told the committee, \u201cthe fact that no affordable housing has been developed tells me the market is not addressing the problem. The city and non-profit sectors have to step up or look at growth boundary and height capacity [changes].\u201d<\/p>\n

Testimony submitted by Ka`a`awa resident Dee Dee Letts in support of the amended Bill 47 suggested the DPP relax height restrictions on lands in La`ie controlled by Hawai`i Reserves, Inc. (HRI), the church\u2019s land management arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would allow HRI to develop to higher densities close to existing infrastructure to provide for multi-story or townhouse affordable housing or rentals,\u201d she wrote. Building close to existing infrastructure would also reduce housing costs, she stated.<\/p>\n

Letts also recommended that the DPP allow urban use of agricultural land in La`ie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agricultural uses currently in La`ie could be transferred and expanded in Malaekahana, which is currently zoned exclusively for agricultural uses,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the committee meeting, Atta and HRI\u2019s Eric Beaver were quoted in a Honolulu Civil Beat<\/i> article by Denby Fawcett discussing their efforts to find ways to allow for growth in rural areas, including Malaekahana, without amending urban growth boundaries.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bill that would keep the urban growth boundary at Malaekahana where it is will die if the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) doesn’t release at least a draft O`ahu General Plan this month or the next. On … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[373,4],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-7858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2015","category-development","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}