13th October 2010
Posted in Updates

Along with the rest of the community, the Lā‘ie Community Association, BYU–Hawaii, the Polynesian Cultural Center and Hawaii Reserves, Inc. are reviewing the Ko‘olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan (KSCP) public review draft to determine its workability for the region.

The City & County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) released its Public Review Draft last week.

While the core of the community-based Envision Lā‘ie proposals are included—growth of BYU–Hawaii, workforce housing and an alternate access road—the Cityʻs proposed plan scales down the scope.

Stakeholders are preliminarily optimistic, however, that the reduced scope can be accommodated and still meet the basic needs for expansion of BYU–Hawaii and additional housing for the area.

Deadline for public comment is December 15.

The proposed amendment to the KSCP, approved by the Ko‘olau Loa Neighborhood Board in July 2009, had requested greater acreage identified for BYU–Hawaii’s future footprint than is identified in the DPP’s draft plan. The amendment also listed a need for 1,200 new homes over the next 25 years. The plan outlines 875.

“Continuing community input and participation is very important at this stage,” said Pane Meatoga, Lā‘ie Community Association president. “People can still be heard. There will be a number of opportunities for the community.”

“We recognize that this is a process for the entire community and that we need to find solutions that work best for the community as a whole,” said Eric Beaver, Hawaii Reserves, Inc. president. “While we felt a strong need for the requested changes we recommended to the plan, we appreciate the difficult task DPP had before them and believe they have heard the community.”

Last year, more than a thousand Ko‘olau Loa residents signed a petition to support amending the City’s plan to preserve growth options for BYU–Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center and to relocate housing designations to Malaekahana.

In the spring of 2009, more than 600 people at 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. Common themes emerged through the visioning process: A sustainable future that provides affordable housing, job opportunities, better public education, and a community design that supports the people who live there.

Lā‘ie Community Association and Kahuku Community Association submitted letters in support of Envision Lā‘ie, and the Ko‘olau Loa Neighborhood Board voted in support.

Community feedback mirrors a scientific survey conducted by nationally recognized Heart + Mind Strategies in conjunction with the Hawai‘i-based OmniTrak Group, Inc. That survey, conducted with nearly 700 O‘ahu and district residents between March 31 and May 8, 2009, identifies affordable housing, schools and transportation as urgent needs.

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 Malaekahana.

Recognizing the voice of community residents, nine Public Advisory Committee (PAC) members wrote letters to the Department of Planning and Permitting requesting that growth proposals be included in the new city plan.

Once the KSCP is adopted, it will become the foundation for planning for the Ko‘olau Loa region through the year 2035.

Click here for a copy of the Public Review Draft.

Envision Lā‘ie represents a diverse group of residents and stakeholders of La‘ie, Kahuku, Hau‘ula and Ko’olau Loa who are working together to study La‘ie and plan for its future possibilities, especially a future that protects quality of life and emphasizes the values of the people who live in the Ko‘olau Loa region.