Koolauloa Neighborhood Board votes 7-4 to support plan

 

After sitting through nearly three-and-a-half hours of presentation and public testimony during a special meeting in the Laie Elementary School cafeteria on July 30, 2009, Koolauloa Neighborhood Board representatives voted 7-4 in favor of supporting an Envision Laie proposal that seeks City and County of Honolulu approval to:

• Expand the Brigham Young University–Hawaii campus.
• Provide for the future expansion of the Polynesian Cultural Center.
• Transfer previously approved housing and community development sites from Laie to Malaekahana.
• Approximately double the number of units, including affordable housing, and other community amenities — such as a mauka road to minimize traffic on Kamehameha Highway, commercial and recreational areas — to be developed there.

Hundreds of community residents filled the school cafeteria to overflowing, and dozens of them testified before the neighborhood board, the overwhelming majority speaking in favor of the proposal.

Envision Laie background

Envision Laie is a sustainability study initiated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which purchased 6,000-plus acres of land in the area in 1865, and opened the Laie Hawaii Temple in 1919, BYU–Hawaii in 1955 (it was known as the Church College of Hawaii until 1974), and the PCC in 1963. Another affiliated entity, Hawaii Reserves, Inc. (HRI), manages much of the church's property. Church leaders wanted to make sure the separate development plans of these entities as well as those of the community and surrounding region were well coordinated and would meet future needs.

Consequently, some development plans in 2008 were postponed, and later that year local and outside Envision Laie consultants began to conduct various studies, interviews and surveys. They determined that BYUH and the PCC are not sustainable in the long range without modifying the existing development concepts contained in the City and County of Honolulu's Koolau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan (KLSCP), which was adopted in 1999.

The KLSCP recently came open for periodic review, but the City's Department of Planning and Permits denied an appeal during a January 2009 public meeting in Hauula to allow the Laie institutions time to prepare and interject a new proposal into that plan. However, DPP leaders indicated they would consider an amendment proposal when it was ready.

Several months ago the Envision Laie consultants, with widespread participation of Koolauloa-area residents in more interviews, online surveys and a series of workshops — sought feedback on how and where those development concepts should be formed. All the results of those studies and meetings can be found on the Envision Laie web site. A summary of these findings occupied the first part of the neighborhood board meeting agenda.

The proposal

Laie Community Association president Pane Meatoga Jr. started off the presentation portion of the meeting by pointing out that affordable housing and jobs were critical concerns, and assuring the audience that the LCA "was involved and participated in the process" of developing the Envision Laie proposal.

He said he was also more personally involved because one of his sons left the islands a year ago "so he could get a house for his family… Only 10 percent of the families in Koolauloa can afford a home costing $600,000 or more."

"The loss of these [Latter-day Saint] entities would be disastrous, not only to Laie, but to Koolauloa," Meatoga continued. He cited stats showing the income of about 20 percent of all residents in Koolauloa is tied to those institutions, a figure that jumps to approximately 70 percent of Laie residents. "If there were no jobs here for most of our residents, there would be a lot more traffic in-and-out [of the area]," he added.

Gretchen Comey, Envision Laie project manager for the Hearts + Minds Strategies research company based in Washington, D.C., next explained the methodology of the surveys:

"We recognized that Hawaii is a unique place," she said, explaining her company partnered with Omnitrak, a Honolulu-based research firm, in conducting their portion of the studies. "This is the most research we have ever done. We went to great lengths to make sure you were heard," she added, stressing that the survey results were statistically significant. Again, all the results can be found on the Envision Laie web site.

"Throughout the process, over and over we heard about growth," she continued. "What people want to preserve most is the special feeling about this place." She also added that the results showed negative growth in the area over the last 10 years.

BYU–Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright reiterated to the board that the university "is not sustainable over the next 50 years without changes," or in other words, more students will enable the school to become more economically feasible.

"Land is critical for our sustainability," he said, and "all of the incremental growth will be on campus."

PCC President Von D. Orgill made similar comments to the board, pointing out the Center has brought almost 35 million people to Laie over the last 46 years, in that same time period contributing $160 million to BYUH and the students. "All of the money stays here. None of it goes back to the church," he said. "We are a substantial source of jobs for people in the community."

If anything, he added, the church has provided an infusion of funds for capital improvements over the past 10 years. "In the last eight or nine years, we've put a significant effort into rebuilding," Orgill said, stressing the additional land use sought in the Envision Laie proposal would enable future growth for the Center.

"As members of this community, we live these statistics every day," Meatoga said at the end of the presentation, "and we urge you [the Koolauloa Neighborhood Board] to vote for a change."

Public input

The neighborhood board's original meeting agenda called for one hour of public testimony on the proposal, with each speaker limited to three minutes. By the time the hour ended, however, there were still 21 people on the list who had not yet spoken. After some discussion, the board agreed to continue the meeting until all of those had the opportunity to speak. A sampling of some comments follows:

• Fred Camit, a PCC employee who was born and raised in Kahuku and has lived in Sunset Beach for over 30 years, told the board how three of his four adult daughters still live with him "because the houses in this area have been priced out of their market." Camit added, unlike past development in Sunset Beach, he favors the more orderly provisions of the Envision Laie proposal.

• Long-time Laie kamaaina Dannette Machado Ah Puck Kekauoha recalled how Kahuku used to be a thriving town from the 1930s-to-50s, and spoke in favor of the proposal "so my children and grandchildren will be able to have jobs here."

• PCC Director of Cultural Presentations Delsa Moe, who has lived in Laie for over 30 years, told of only being able to purchase a repossessed home five years ago, but "it doesn't look like my children will have that opportunity," without the approval of the proposal.

• Joseph Kalili of Hauula said, "This whole area is just like family. We support each other."

• Long-time Punaluu kamaaina Cathy Mattoon told the board, which includes her husband, Creighton Mattoon, that she has been in favor of affordable housing for many years, but is concerned that nothing has happened in this regard in Laie in the past 20 years. Others expressed similar sentiments.

• Henry Wasson, a taro farmer and son of Laie kuleana [homestead] landowners, said he was concerned about adequate water resources if the plan were approved.

• U'ilani Pualoa said she was also concerned about water resources, and had split opinions on some of the other issues.

• Kevin Kelly of Kahuku said he understood the needs of Laie, but "the plan has fallen short of the vision."

• T. David Hannemann, a Laie Point resident and retired PCC executive, expressed "appreciation and gratitude" for the Latter-day Saint entities, pointing out that before the PCC was founded public transportation in the area consisted of four taxis that would do several town-runs a day.

• Chad Compton, an 18-year resident of Laie and a BYUH administrator, said he was in favor of the proposal "with the great hope that we can preserve our way of life," but also with the recognition that "there are some divisions in our community."

• PCC Director of Marketing  Raymond Magalei said even as a child growing up in Laie "we quickly learned what a special place this is." He added, "Envision Laie is giving us the hope that this, too, can be our home."

• BYUH psychology professor and 40-year Laie resident Inoke Funaki said he still hopes some day to own a home here. "I may not be a beneficiary of the plan, but I believe my children and grandchildren will be," he said. As did several others who testified, Funaki also said he already owned a little land in Laie — plots at Laie Cemetery.

• Carol Phillips of Sunset Beach told the board she hoped the plan would include "new environmental standards of sustainability."

• And Ben Shafer of Kahana urged that any future development utilize local workers.

The vote

By the time the public testimony period ended, the crowd in the Laie Elementary School cafeteria had noticeably thinned. Then, following board discussion and disclosures that some members have affiliations with the Laie entities, a roll call vote showed that Kaaawa, Punaluu and two-of-three Hauula representatives were not in favor of supporting the Envision Laie proposal; but the Laie and Kahuku representatives unanimously supported the measure:

With a 7-4 majority vote, the Koolauloa Neighborhood Board supports the Envision Laie proposal. Members of the board [pictured at right] include, left-right: John Elkington (Laie); Moana Kalua'ü (not visible), Dotty Kelly-Paddock and Richard Fale (Hauula); Junior Primacio, chairman, and Jimmy Leonardi (Kahuku); DeeDee Letts (Kaaawa); Creighton Mattoon (Punaluu); and Norman Kaluhiokalani, Les Steward and Kela Miller (Laie).

This represents another step taken in a long governmental process that calls for more reviews as well as similar future meetings and testimonies before other area groups, City land use and government councils.

— Story and photos by Mike Foley