{"id":7860,"date":"2015-04-01T06:58:36","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T06:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=7860"},"modified":"2020-11-20T01:49:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-20T01:49:29","slug":"board-talk-waikiki-zipline-ala-wai-development-legacy-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=7860","title":{"rendered":"Board Talk: Waikiki Zipline, Ala Wai Development, Legacy Lands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Board Grants Temporary Permit<\/b> for Zipline Over Hilton Lagoon<\/b><\/p>\n

They\u2019re calling the zip-line that Waikiki Beach Activities, Ltd. (WBA), plans to string over the Hilton lagoon the \u201cCoconut Glide.\u201d And over the next several months, the company will be testing it out, paying the state $1.50 a head plus $1,425 a month for use of a parking area managed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.<\/p>\n

A one-day test run in December using a 50-pound dummy was largely successful, but the company found that raising the end point by five feet would provide better clearance above beach goers. Raising the line puts the landing zone within DOBOR\u2019s parking lot. WBA plans to take up two parking stalls for its \u2018Landing Zone\u2019vehicle and relocate two trees to create two replacement stalls.<\/p>\n

On March 13, the Land Board approved a six-month right-of-entry permit to Waikiki Beach Activities to allow the company to assess the new configuration \u2014with real, live customers \u2014for future zip-line operations.<\/p>\n

DOBOR determined that the permit did not require an environmental assessment under the state\u2019s environmental review law, Chapter 343, because the permit falls under an exemption for \u201cbasic data collection, research, experimental management, and resource evaluation activities which do not result in a serious or major disturbance to an environmental resource.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the board approved the permit, board members expressed several concerns about the project.<\/p>\n

Hawai`i island Land Board member Stanley Roehrig said he worried about the precedent the operation would set. (Roehrig was the only board member to vote against the permit.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t Coney Island and we don\u2019t want it to be Coney Island. \u2026I have strong reservations of zip lines all over Waikiki Beach,\u201dhe told WBA owner Bob Hampton.<\/p>\n

Hampton replied that he couldn\u2019t foresee that happening since he thought there weren\u2019t any other suitable areas in Waikiki.<\/p>\n

\u201cKoe aku ia \u2014<\/i> that remains to be seen,\u201d Roehrig said.<\/p>\n

He added that people can parasail if they want an aerial view of Waikiki and went on to describe how a number of people on his island have died from zip-line accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t a precise science. \u2026People fly into the trees and they die,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n

At-large board member Ulalia Woodside added that if the operation does proceed, she wanted more information on how it might interact with other recreational uses in the area.<\/p>\n

If the six-month trial period is successful, WBA will seek an annual revocable permit from DOBOR to continue using the landing zone, Hampton said.<\/p>\n

Kaua`i Land Board member and former DLNR land agent Tommy Oi questioned whether WBA should also seek an easement for the line above the lagoon, which, although managed by the Hilton, is owned by the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state has got to weigh whether or not it wants to assume the risk of bad publicity on our pristine shoreline from someone getting hurt,\u201dRoehrig said, adding that when WBA comes to the Land Board for future approvals, he wants Hampton to explain why the state should take that risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t tell me, \u2018Generally it\u2019s safe.\u2019Generally, cars don’t run into each other,\u201dRoehrig said.<\/p>\n

Hampton told Roehrig that his company was very conscious of every possible risk the line posed.<\/p>\n

Finally, board member Vernon Char said he wanted to make sure the private use of the lagoon and public parking lot benefitted locals as well as visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other thing that offends me a little bit, charging $1.50 per passenger. It\u2019s almost as if the state is hosting this event for tourists,\u201dChar said.<\/p>\n

Hampton replied that his company goes out of its way to serve kama`aina and explained that the pricing was simply borrowed from the rent structure it uses for its catamaran operation, which also uses DLNR land.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve done is using exactly the same rent protocol [we\u2019ve] been using for the last 20 years,\u201dhe said. He added that there will be kama`aina rates to use the zip-line.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/b><\/p>\n

Board Defers Termination<\/b><\/p>\n

Of Ala Wai Development Lease<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Ala<\/a>
Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor. Credit: DLNR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Would-be developers of the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor blame the now-defunct Public Land Development Corporation for their lack of progress, but not for their failure to pay rent to the DLNR\u2019s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.<\/p>\n

On March 13, DOBOR recommended ending the 65-year lease and easement Honey Bee USA, Inc., was granted by the Land Board in November 2012. Following a 2008 request for proposals, DOBOR selected the company in 2009 to redevelop the division\u2019s lands at the Ala Wai, including the fuel dock and boat repair facility. In addition, Honey Bee proposed building two wedding chapels, commercial space, and a practice facility for the U.S. kayaking team.<\/p>\n

Although the company had fulfilled its commitments under the development agreement that preceded the lease, it eventually lost its source of funding and started falling behind on its rent last  October, according to a DOBOR report to the Land Board.<\/p>\n

Under the lease, Honey Bee must pay $68,571 a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of February 26, 2015, Honey Bee paid to DOBOR $690,000 in development agreement fees and $470,515 in lease rent,\u201dthe report states.<\/p>\n

At the Land Board\u2019s meeting, Honey Bee representative Keith Kiuchi announced that his company had $420,000 in escrow to cure the rent default, as well as a new, mainland equity partner that would allow the development to proceed. He said the partner did not want its identity disclosed until it completes its due diligence. He said he also had funding commitments from at least one lender.<\/p>\n

To date, Honey Bee has obtained permits, a Finding of No Significant Impact on its environmental assessment, and a sewer connection from the city. The sewer connection, Kiuchi said, is probably the most important element for any harbor developer to get since the Fort DeRussy wastewater pumping station is over capacity.<\/p>\n

Kiuchi said that his company is on track to obtain building permits by May 14. He added that its contractor, Hawaiian Dredging, is ready to start construction some time in June and that the commercial space to be built is already 85 percent leased.<\/p>\n

Honey Bee\u2019s Deron Akiona added that $3.2 million has been spent preparing the project for development. Among other things, the company had to work around covenants in the lease limiting commercial development, as well as restrictions posed by the city\u2019s Waikiki Special Design District.<\/p>\n

Another problem was the creation of the state Public Land Development Corporation by the 2011 Legislature, Akiona said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that came in front of the Legislature, this parcel came thrown into the pot of who would have jurisdiction,\u201dhe said. The PLDC was to have been administratively attached to the DLNR and would have overseen development of state lands. But public backlash over the way the PLDC was created and the extent of its exemptions from land use laws led the 2013 Legislature to dissolve the agency.<\/p>\n

Between 2011 and 2013, nobody was sure who had clear jurisdiction and development rights over the area to be leased to Honey Bee, Akiona told the Land Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt caused us a three-year delay,\u201dhe said. With regard to the rent, however, Akiona said he had no excuse and that he was prepared to cure it.<\/p>\n

Kiuchi added that the performance bond required by the lease will be paid once financing is secured.<\/p>\n

Keith Chun, a DLNR project specialist, told the board that the Ala Wai development is a difficult project and that Honey Bee had done a lot of due diligence, site work, and foundation testing and remediation. \u201cA lot of it would be things the state would have to do,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n

Maui Land Board member Jimmy Gomes asked whether anyone else had expressed interest in developing the property.<\/p>\n

Chun said he\u2019d bet there would be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a matter of putting out the same RFP with a new date. There have been a lot of changes since 2008. Obviously, the economy improved. In 2011, the Legislature passed legislation to exempt Ala Wai properties from zoning, which not only increased the permitted uses, the legislation even allows us to do timeshare hotels,\u201dChun said.<\/p>\n

Chun estimated that the value of the properties leased to Honey Bee has gone from $6 million to $20 million, assuming the state can take full advantage of the new economic and regulatory landscape. He noted that when DOBOR issued the original RFP, rail was still uncertain and now it\u2019s going to run to the end of Ala Moana Boulevard, close to the Ala Wai harbor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would think that we would really need to reevaluate what that property can do, knowing the type of uses that could be permitted,\u201dChun said. He speculated that the adjacent property owners would likely be interested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, for us to go to another RFP would take time. \u2026We would need to get public and community input,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n

In the end, given the time and money spent by Honey Bee so far, the Land Board chose to defer termination for 90 days to allow the default rent to be cured, the performance bond to be paid, and Honey Bee\u2019s mortgage to be approved by the board.<\/p>\n

The rent has since been paid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/b><\/p>\n

Board Grants $3.5M <\/b>To Legacy Land Projects<\/b><\/p>\n

On February 27, the Land Board authorized spending $3.5 million to buy land or easements across the state aimed at protecting natural, agricultural, and\/or cultural resources.<\/p>\n

Following the recommendations of the Legacy Land Conservation Commission, the Land Board approved funding for the following projects:<\/p>\n