31st May 2011
Posted in Updates

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser published two stories over the Memorial Day weekend on plans for the community of Laie that the majority of residents support.

“Brigham Young University-Hawaii officials said a proposed hotel and related banquet and restaurant facilities are important parts of a plan to expand educational services in Laie.”

In Ko‘olau Loa, 71 percent of residents surveyed say BYU-Hawaii should be allowed to increase its enrollment of 2,400 students at a rate of about 5-6% a year- -the same as Hawaii Pacific University and Chaminade University—so that it can remain financially sustainable, grow regional jobs, and help the local economy. The survey was conducted by nationally recognized Heart+Mind Strategies in partnership with Honolulu-based Ward Research between December 8 and 17, 2010 for Envision Lā‘ie. A total of 832 O‘ahu residents, including 157 residents from the Ko‘olau Loa District were polled. You can download complete results on www.envisionlaie.com.

The hotel is a replacement for the Laie Inn, which was torn down last year. The site is already zoned for a hotel. Again, quoting the article…

The City Council’s Committee on Zoning is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Kahuku High School cafeteria to hear public testimony and possibly recommend whether to grant a special management area permit for the proposed development in coastal Laie. The proposal would move to the City Council before final approval. Hawaii Reserves Inc., which manages property for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wants to develop a four-story, 223-unit hotel along with a restaurant and banquet facilities to replace its former 49-unit hotel on 9.84 acres of land.

Islandwide, there is support for the replacement hotel; 70 percent of O‘ahu residents surveyed favor building the new hotel. Sentiment in the Ko‘olau Loa region is even higher at 72 percent. As already mentioned, you can download survey results or a summary of the results on our web site.

Another article on Saturday May 28 highlighted a significant investment by the Polynesian Cultural Center in the region.

A $38 million, five-year plan to refresh the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie is expected to lure both new and return visitors to the state’s No. 1 paid attraction. The sweeping project, already under way, will culminate with new and upgraded activities, an expanded restaurant and broader retail experiences.

In the surveys conducted for Envision Laie, one of residents top concerns is jobs. The growth of both The Polynesian Cultural Center and BYU-Hawaii is directly related to this issue. The PCC needs to reinvest in order to compete in the marketplace and rebuild its attendance to historic levels so it can employ more community members and students.