Envision Lā‘ie community workshops
Two Envision Lā‘ie Community Workshops for Ko’olau Loa residents were held on April 28-29. These workshops were designed to determine if growth can be a solution and, if so, what type of growth would be required to make Lā’ie sustainable. Envision Lā’ie is a process by which Lā‘ie and Ko’olau Loa residents, Brigham Young University Hawaii, the Polynesian Cultural Center, Hawaii Reserves Inc. and national regional planning experts are working together to study Lā‘ie and help plan its future possibilities to become sustainable and preserve and protect this place and the values of the people who live here.
NOTE: CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR ONLINE SURVEY!
At these workshops, we invited residents to take an online survey. Please click here to take the survey! Mahalo for joining us as we Envision Lā’ie together.
8 Comments
Maeva & Jared Anderson Says:
Iaorana, I am so glad to hear about this. I heard it from my husband who works for BYUH. Yes we can do something for our community. First if you need help I can help, just contact me. It will be an honor to help you guys. Second, i think we need to inform the community by other ways than just the BYUH or PCC employees, let’s get the message to others…I can help again..
April 20th, 2009 at 9:33 pmBen Au Jr Says:
As a native of Laie living in Utah, I would like to contribute some ideas on economic development and diversifying the economy of Laie & the North Shore. There are hundreds of former Kahuku graduates and Laie residents living in Utah and the mainland. Most of us would move home immediately if there was a plan for creating more jobs and affordable housing. I recommend that you expand your open house meetings to Utah in order to get more input on creating a viable and vibrant community. There are several of us who are business owners and would be glad to have some input. Mahalo!!.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:05 amKalama E Says:
In regards to the article “Presidents Brief Community on ‘Envision Laie’”, Do such educated and “inspired” men think a HOTEL, and increasing the size of BYUH will solve the problem, or better yet create a vibrant and viable community in Laie. If anything it will make individuals even more reliant on institutional jobs that discourage free agency and foster a blind obedience to upper management and big boss mentality, not to mention push more local people out of their homeland allowing more haole residences and influences. What makes Laie and Hawaii in general so special is the people and the spirit, a spirit that was here long before BYUH and PCC was, and a spirit I know that will still be there when they leave. It seems we needn’t skirt around the issue that money and the bottom line of these institutions is the driving factor of this sudden call for change and rennasaince. Maybe if those in positions of responsibility were less concerned about the money, and more about the people(local people), the history of Laie, good or bad, then maybe they would see that in the grand scheme of things it is not as important that the budget balances, but that the people thrive and progress,and are not short changed and put into very difficult positions of following and supporting leadership that they may feel cares very little for the people, culture or native issues, but more for the almighty dollar. But then again that is what business school teaches us isn’t it. To quote Steven Covey “there is no such thing as business ethics, there is just ethics…” Also why is it necessary to provide mortgage assistance programs to ‘faculty’ and not to non-faculty and staff positions, which to me would seem like the salary grades that would most benefit from assistance..
April 26th, 2009 at 1:07 pmLindsey Pierce Says:
I went to the meeting tonight and it was very engaging and informative. We did talk about those who have left the area because of the lack of housing and jobs and got to input where we would and wouldn’t want to see growth/expansion. Please share your ideas with your family members who attend tomorrow and have them speak FOR you as well..
April 28th, 2009 at 4:08 amLilla and Kanamu Tollefsen Says:
We are excited to go to the workshop and Open House tomorrow. Thank you for the website and great advertising on the workshops-it feels more open. We are looking for ways to volunteer and be more involved in the discussions so if there could be a link on the website about ways to do this, that would be great. Mahalo for your efforts..
April 28th, 2009 at 4:09 amDavid Hunter Says:
I attended one of the workshop and found it to be fun and informative. However, I think it (intentionally or unintentionally) framed the issues so that nearly everybody had only one opinion –> develop more land. They didn’t consider IF we need to develop more land, but rather HOW we will develop it. The reality of Hawaii is that the land is our most valuable asset. While development expands the number of available houses, it fundamentally destroys the rural beauty of our community and does nothing to make the new homes and properties any more affordable than the existing ones. In my opinion, we need to permit more effective use of our existing (developed) land before we even consider expanding the boundaries. The ‘elephant-in-the-room’ is that La’ie is ALREADY a multi-family property community, it just isn’t zoned to be so. La’ie should be re-zoned to multi-family. This would increase the number of available (and affordable) homes without destroying the surrounding countryside. BYU-H should also consider building upwards before it considers building farther into the mountains. By preserving the existing rural and agricultural land, it does not destroy the possibility of future development. That development simply isn’t necessary yet in my opinion..
April 30th, 2009 at 4:10 amKaulana Chang Says:
I believe the true consensus to the sucess of Laie is that we need to strike a balance between expansion and growth and preservation. This balance needs to benefit ALL community members of Laie and the Koolauloa areas and not just to a few entities and faculty that have dominated the spectrum for decades. Families such as mine, who have lived in Laie for over 100 years have seen BYUH/PCC and HRI have brought to the communities. But they need to do more by taking care of the people who live and die here and not the “bottom-line dollar”. “If you take care of the people, the people will take care of you!” .
April 30th, 2009 at 4:11 amGillian Yamagata Says:
Following is my input: – Two camp grounds built up towards the mountains at Gunstock Ranch. – Leave Kahuku High School and convert the upper campus to an Intermeadiate school. Then build a new High School, with full recreational facilities (100mtr pool, soccer field, baseball field, tennis courts(6), stadium with a track and football field) next to the school. This way, the school and the community can have a shared useage of the facilities. – Build housing with large lots, and some areas with town houses like at Millilani. .
May 30th, 2009 at 4:12 amLeave Your Comment