Residents attend Open House
Residents from the Ko‘olau Loa region filled the Cannon Activities Center at Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYU-Hawaii) this evening to continue what has become a public dialogue: What’s next for Lā‘ie. An estimated 225 people attended.
Tonight’s open meeting was the next step of Envision Lā‘ie, which brings together Lā‘ie and Ko‘olau Loa residents, Brigham Young University-Hawaii, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Hawaii Reserves Inc. to address the future of the Ko‘olau Loa community.
This North/East Shore community is challenged by fewer jobs per household than in the rest of O‘ahu and a greater percentage of families below the poverty line (13 percent) than in the City and County of Honolulu (7 percent.)
Common themes emerged through the visioning process: A sustainable future that requires affordable housing, job opportunities, better public education, and a community design that supports the people who live there.
“It’s been a good process for recording the concerns and needs of our community,” said Pane Meatoga, Jr., president of the Lā‘ie Community Association, “one that will help our residents and neighboring communities plan for the future.”
The views at the meeting mirror a scientific survey conducted by nationally recognized Heart + Mind Strategies in conjunction with the Hawai‘i-based OmniTrak Group, Inc. That survey, conducted in the district between March 31 and May 8, 2009, identifies affordable housing, schools and public transportation as urgent needs. (Click here to download complete survey results).
Creating local employment opportunities was a priority identified by the survey. The majority of those polled said that future growth would make things better (52 percent). Overwhelmingly, responders said “yes” to growth that would improve the quality of lives for those who live there (75 percent). Similarly, a large majority (3 out of 4) of the residents of Ko‘olau Loa support changing the Ko‘olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan to preserve space for BYU-Hawaii to grow and favor developing housing at Mālaekahana.
“We are hearing that what people want to protect most about this special place is the feeling of belonging that comes from living with friendly, loving people that look out for each other,” said Eric Beaver, President of Hawaii Reserves Inc.
“Appropriate growth is everyone’s biggest challenge,” said BYU-Hawaii President Steven Wheelwright. “Tonight’s gathering shows that together we can create a sustainable future. We are heartened that the community will support the kind of change that would best protect and promote what we value most about life in Lā‘ie and Ko‘olau Loa,” he said.
In late April, more than 600 people at the Envision Lā‘ie community workshops made clear what they want and did not want in their community and created 60 maps to illustrate that vision. At this meeting, participants reviewed the collected results of those workshops and learned the results of the scientific survey whose results paralleled those of the workshops.
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