Ea O Ka Aina: Speculation

Showing posts with label Speculation. Show all posts

We need "our" Kauai General Plan

SUBHEAD: Take back the General Plan from the hands of the developers, large land owners and tourism industry.

By Sandy Herndon on 23 July 2017 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-kauai-general-plan-is-ours.html)

Image above: An indication of how bad the General Plan Update is was illustrated by this plan of Kauai. Note the "Districts" in the plan relate to no cultural, historical, bioregional, political, or governing identities, but appears to be the myopic view of the island from the County Planning Department Office in Lihue. See the New Yorker Magazine map of America below. From (http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/island_graphic2.png).

WHAT:
Organizing meeting to address the County of Kauai’s General Plan Update

WHEN:
August 2, 2017 at 6:30pm - 9pm

WHERE:
Kapaa Public Library
Kuhio Highway, Kapaa

WHO:
Community Coalition of Kauai
(www.communitycoalitionkauai.org)

WHY:
There is a lack of community wide input for this proposed plan which is going to the Kauai County Council for approval.

Take Back the General Plan From the Hands of the Developers, Large Land Owners and Tourism Industry and Make it Your Own

THIS IS YOUR GENERAL PLAN. IS THIS THE FUTURE YOU WANT?

The County Planning Department and Planning Commission have proposed a new General Plan that ignores the hundreds of pages of concerns and input of community members and organizations. The new General Plan proposes town designations, re-zonings, up-zonings and entirely new zoning categories for the benefit of large landowners and developers.

§ We do not need a General Plan that was written by and for developers and the tourism industry.

§ We do need a General Plan that will create balanced/sustainable growth, diversified job opportunities, and protects Kauai’s environment, rural character and quality of life.

PLEASE JOIN US IN THIS COORDINATED COMMUNITY-WIDE EFFORT TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE ABOUT THE NEED TO HAVE A GENERAL PLAN THAT FIRST AND FOREMOST MEETS THE NEEDS OF THE RESIDENTS OF KAUAI.

We are looking for your input, your participation and your interest in joining a growing group of concerned community members who want to take back the General Plan. We are coordinating our concerns and efforts in preparation for the delivery of the General Plan to the County Council for their approval.

Image above: Illustration of the myopic view of America and beyond from Manhattan in this Saul Steinburg cover of the New Yorker Magazine in the fall of 2004. From (http://karakulia.livejournal.com/30444.html).

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Fact or Fantasy - The Kauai General Plan 8/8/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Commission accepts General Plan 6/15/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Okay given to destroy Paradise 6/10/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Testimony against General Plan
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan open house 12/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Reject the Kauai General Plan update 11/30/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai County "Keep it Rural" 11/17/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Will developers write Kapaa’s future? 5/6/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan Disappoints 12/9/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Hokua Place comment deadline 5/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms good to go 3/11/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue Loss of Vision 9/5/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Tax Donkey Purgatory - Lima Ola 7/18/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Annals of pure bullshit - Coco Palms 6/22/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms Travesty 8/10/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Review 2000-2020 Kauai General Plan 4/2/09
Island Breath: Kauai Sustainable Land Use Plan 11/1/07
Island Breath: LEGS Sustainability Conference 10/13/07
Existing Kauai County General Plan 2000-2020 1999
.

Fact or Fantasy: Kauai General Plan

SUBHEAD: A real community meeting is planned for 6:30pm Tuesday July 11th at King Kaumuali`i School in Hanmaulu.

By Gabriela Taylor on 8 July 2017 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/07/building-bottom-up-economy.html)

Image above: Photo illustration "The Paved Paradise" by Riki Goft. From (http://www.pxleyes.com/best-photoshop/rikigoft/).

[IB Publisher's note: This article was also published in the Garden Island News today.]

WHAT:
Kauai Community Coalition meeting on the Kauai Plan

WHEN:
Tuesday, 11 July 2017 at 6:30pm

WHERE:
King Kaumuali`i School Cafeteria Hanamaulu.

4380 Hanamaulu Rd, Lihue, HI 96766

After a two-year process with extensive input from over a thousand people, the County Planning Department proclaimed that the recent Updated General Plan (UGP) document is built upon the following four basic goals:

A Sustainable Island,
A Unique and Beautiful Place,
A Healthy and Resilient People,
An Equitable Place With Opportunity for All.

The UGP is all but a done deal, with only the County Council left to weigh in, followed by the stroke of the pen of the Mayor. The problem with this document, which is the blueprint for the future of Kaua’i, is that it doesn’t measure up to the four basic goals highlighted by the Planning Deptartment.

Several residents have written to TGI Forum expressing that the UGP is superficial, has errors, will lead to more traffic, loss of agricultural land and of our rural life style, depletion of our natural environment, more resorts, and inadequate affordable housing for locals.

Sustainable? Not possible when we ship in 80-90% of our food.

One of the insightful letters published July 5th in TGI, by Laura Conrey, compares Kauai to the Galapagos Islands where the government takes measures to prevent both unsustainable tourism and immigration.

It states “Population growth planning is essential for the common good.” and “ Mass tourism is bad for the environment and local business.” Unlike Kauai, these guidelines, have teeth and are adhered to.

I moved to Kauai in 1974 when there were no stoplights on the highway. It was aquamarine ocean and lush emerald nature that captivated me, as well as, the laid back local life style and the Hawaiian culture.

Since then, I’ve never thought of living anywhere else and consider it a privilege to make my home here.

When you love something, it’s only natural to take care of it. We are the stewards of this magnificent island, which is being threatened by over population and tourism that stresses our roads, water, sewage, land fill and nature.

The coral is dead or dying, and the rate of bird species extinction, record breaking. On top of it all, do you know that 40% of all new houses are purchased by mainlanders and foreigners, because only they can afford them?

Why is the County giving out resort and tract housing permits (with no or minimal affordable housing) to developers - like candy to children? This is the antithesis of the above UGP goal #4: An Equitable Place with Opportunity for All, because, among other issues, housing isn’t affordable for locals.

It took me 70 minutes (normal 35 minutes) inching along on the Kapaa Bypass at 1:30 pm, June 6, to get to my doctor’s appointment (late) in Lihue.

My previous testimony at public hearings has focused on Kapaa/Wailua, where despite debilitating traffic, a 780 house development Hokua Place on 93 acres, has been recommended for up-zoning from Agricultural to Neighborhood General (aka Urban) in the latest version of the UGP.

With three new resorts already approved in the Wailua corridor, plus Hokua Place, there will be at least an additional 2,500 vehicles added to the congestion that will be minimally resolved by the few road remedies recently proposed by the DOT, to be in place by 2022.

Overbuilding is an island-wide issue. In addition to the east side, both the north shore and west side residents have protested the up-zoning of land in the UGP hearings, to no avail.

Do we want another Maui? Visitors choose Kauai for it’s bounty of nature and laid back life style. Please compare the four basic visions of the Planning Dept. to what the UGP actually says online. Web site (plankauai.com). I’m asking everyone who loves Kauai to get involved before it’s too late.

Image above: Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi". "They paved Paradise and put in a parking lot". From (https://youtu.be/94bdMSCdw20).

Just say “No. We’re not going to Pave Paradise and Put up a Parking Lot”.

Better yet, get involved.

Please join the Kaua`i Community Coalition, a grass roots group of residents already active with the General Plan process, by attending an island-wide meeting to help formulate a response to the shortfalls and ramifications of the so-called Updated General Plan.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Commission accepts General Plan 6/15/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Okay given to destroy Paradise 6/10/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Testimony against General Plan
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan open house 12/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Reject the Kauai General Plan update 11/30/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai County "Keep it Rural" 11/17/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Will developers write Kapaa’s future? 5/6/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan Disappoints 12/9/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Hokua Place comment deadline 5/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms good to go 3/11/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue Loss of Vision 9/5/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Tax Donkey Purgatory - Lima Ola 7/18/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Annals of pure bullshit - Coco Palms 6/22/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms Travesty 8/10/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Review 2000-2020 Kauai General Plan 4/2/09
Island Breath: Kauai Sustainable Land Use Plan 11/1/07
Island Breath: LEGS Sustainability Conference 10/13/07
Existing Kauai County General Plan 2000-2020 1999

.

Lima Ola mess to begin in 2018

SUBHEAD: This is a County program and is meant to be the spearpoint for heavy development of the Southside.

By Alden Alayvilla on 15 June 2017 for the Garden Island -
(http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/lima-ola-phase-to-begin/article_7128d697-3797-5045-86a4-81e97aae6d93.html)

Image above: Architects rendering of the Workforce World plan in Eleele named Lima Ola. Note about 40% of the site is multifamily apartments, many of them multi-story. From original From (http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2014/07/tax-donkey-purgatory.html).

[IB Publisher's note: The Land Use Commission has not approved the change of the Lima Ola site from Agriculture Use to Urban Use. But the fix is likely in. However, the bad news about the suburban future of Kauai keeps piling up. The County government of Kauai is dragging us into a dead-end up cul-de-sacs and empty strip malls with no resiliency or self reliance. Duck and cover - a speculator's shit storm of failure is on the way.]

An affordable housing project that may provide the community with 550 residential units will be on the table at a Land Use Commission meeting later this month.

The county of Kauai is petitioning for a land use district boundary amendment, which if approved by the LUC, will change the 75-acre parcel from a State Land Use Agricultural Land District to a State Land Use Urban district.

Since the proposed project would include development of more than 15 acres of land within the Agricultural District, as defined by the LUC, a petition is necessary, according to the project’s environmental assessment.

Members of the LUC visited the parcel Tuesday and were briefed on Lima Ola Workforce Housing Project’s start date, intersection improvements, a proposed regional park, wastewater plan and concerns regarding overflow of a reservoir near the site.

“Considering everything goes well, we would like to commence infrastructure in 2018 and we anticipate an 18- to 20-month build out,” said Kanani Fu, County of Kauai housing director. “For the actual homes, conservatively, we’re looking at 2019 for phase one.”

However, after the first homes are built, it will take another five to seven years for the the completion of phase one, according to county officials. Phase one would add 149 units of 38 single-family and 111 multi-family units.

Funding secured for phase one totaled $20.3 million in sponsor equity, according to the Lima Ola 201H exemption application. In 2010, the county purchased the site for $2.5 million.
In 2016, the project received $16 million from the Legislature.

The development would include single-family, multi-family units, as well as units for seniors.
Because the project is to provide residents with affordable housing, households earning from 80 percent to below 140 percent area median income may be able to purchase homes.

Image above: County Housing Director Kanani Fu, left, talks about the the Lima Ola Work Force Housing Development project to State Land Use Commission members during a site visit to Eleele on Tuesday, 13 June 2017. From original article.

The majority of units — 385 — are for households in the 80 percent median income category.
In the 80-percent AMI, a household of four would have to have an income of $68,250, according to the County of Kauai 2017 annual income limits.

That may change over time, Fu said.

“Based upon the types of funds that we used to do the vertical construction, that dictates the affordables we gotta serve. If we use low-income housing tax credit, we are required to serve 60 percent AMI,” she said. “Who we build homes for cannot be decided now. It comes at the time when we go after financing for the vertical construction.”

Ken Taylor, a Kapahi resident who attended the site visit, said the Lihue area would have been a better place to build affordable housing.

“Look at this area out here. There’s very few jobs. Why would you put affordable housing out here where there’s no jobs?” he said. “This is just a prime example of urban sprawling. It’s really sad. Before you know it, the coffee field will all be gone and we’ll be growing houses.”

The county said it has put 300 homes in Lihue and 100 in Poipu in the past decade and has not created a housing project on the Westside.

As far as employment on that side of the island, the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai Coffee landscaping companies and KIUC employ over 1,400 workers.

The last housing project on the Westside sponsored by the county was the Eleele Nani Subdivision consisting of 96 units and built in 1993.

Sacrificing ag land to make room for homes is another county mistake, Taylor added.
The majority of the parcel is on land utilized by Kauai Coffee. The parcel is less than 3 percent of Kauai Coffee’s available farm land. County officials say, however, the varietal of coffee on the development site will be grown at an alternative location.

“There’s plenty of room for affordable housing without taking out ag land,” Taylor said.
Taylor added the development will cause traffic issues.

Fu said the development will actually improve conditions, such as a signalized intersection and pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of Mahea Road, Kaumualii Highway and Laulea Street.
A bus stop will be added by the intersection.

The project would be built in four phases may take over 20-plus years to complete, Fu said.
Lima Ola will utilize the Eleele wastewater treatment facility.

“At full build out, if no other development were to come online, the treatment is at 80 percent capacity,” Fu said. “The county, in response to this development, are required to expand its treatment center when population requires it.”

Overflow of the Kapa Reservoir, adjacent to Hanapepe, was a concern brought to LUC members.
With a 16 million gallon capacity, the Kauai Coffee-owned reservoir averages about 8 million gallons a day.

Though it doesn’t have a spillway, the reservoir does overflow once it reaches capacity, officials said.
Water would go under the roadway and back down the valley.

A Land Use Commission hearing regarding the project in tentatively scheduled for June 28 and 29.

COMMENTS:

manongindashadow071 posted at 3:49pm June 15, 2017
"A waste water plant next o the reservoir.....Eleele residents beware ! If this housing plan goes through, we soon will be smelling the odor from the waste water plant. We will catch the down wind breezes. Can you imagine having a barbeque outside your lawn and inhaling the stink odor. Worse yet, "the smell flowing throughout your house while having dinner or sleeping at night."

LostInParadise posted at 3:06pm June 15, 2017
"Affordable housing" = middle to upper middle class. making six figures! at 140k a year you should be able to pay off a median priced(740k) house in a decade anyways."

Spatial posted at 10:25am June 15, 2017
“Who we build homes for cannot be decided now.". Well sister, either that's your job to figure, or we are entirely dependent on handouts from the federal government to finance this project. If affordable housing truly is a priority for Kauai, we would be financing this through our local budget. Not increasing salaries, and giving council members yet another pay raise. For now, this project is only a "maybe affordable", because that's all you can promise."

Commission accepts General Plan

SUBHEAD: Despite its unpopularity the Kauai County Planning Commission votes for the General Plan Update.

By Jenna Carpenter on 14 June 2017 for The Garden Island News -
(http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/planning-commission-approves-general-plan-update/article_202f3168-684e-5dab-b9e9-b4f3f3607a66.html)

Image above: Architect Ron Agor and representatives of the team promoting Kapaa's Hokua Place standing outside the Planning Commission Meeting during a break. The Hokua Place project was reinserted into the Kauai General Plan Update. Photo by Juan Wilson.

[IB Publisher's note: Over the last 20 years the popular 2000 General Plan (Keep it rural!) was largely ignored by the Kauai Planning Department. Now, another travesty is born. This Kauai General Plan Update does not have the support of the general public. It should be an embarrassment even to the hacks in the Planning Department. Our planning officials should be ashamed of simply bowing to the American solution to social, infrastructure and urban problems - just build more suburban sprawl. Their plan is a sellout to our future in order to line the pockets of speculators, developers, contractors and banksters. It will also grease the palms of some career public employees and politicos. The cost will be environmental degradation, overpopulation and reduction of the resilience, self-reliance and sustainability of Kauai. The upside the public can choose to ignore this General Plan just as our current planners ignored the last.]

On Tuesday, commissioners voted 4 to 2 to approve the seventh version of the General Plan Update, which restores Hokua Place, a proposed affordable housing development along Kapaa Bypass Road.

The Planning Commission’s work on the General Plan update is complete.

On Tuesday, commissioners voted 4 to 2 to approve the seventh version of the General Plan Update, which restores Hokua Place, a proposed affordable housing development along Kapaa Bypass Road.

In its previous version, the development had been deleted.

Kanoe Ahuna and Donna Apisa voted against the General Plan. About 20 people attended the meeting.

“I’m not comfortable making a decision. All I’ve known in the last six months are the same testimonies I don’t think we’ve addressed,” Ahuna said. “I don’t understand how we’ve heard the same testimonies and haven’t responded to that. How are we taking the community’s interest?”

Ahuna made a motion to defer the General Plan Update and have a workshop.

“So we can re-visit the critical areas,” she said.

Her motion was denied 5 to 1.

“I don’t see the point of a workshop. We are a decision-making body, and if there’s something that specifically needs to be addressed, we can bring it up and talk about it,” said Commissioner Sean Mahoney. “We’ve gone through all kinds of testimony and gone through all kinds of meetings. I think everyone’s been listened to.”

The General Plan, which contains everything from protecting Kauai’s beauty and the watersheds to addressing Kapaa traffic and designing healthy and complete neighborhoods, was last updated in 2000.

A 357-page updated discussion draft was released November 4th, after 18 months of public outreach.

But the $1.2 million project started in 2013, when the Planning Department began researching how to move forward with the update.

The Planning Commission has been tackling the update since the beginning of the year. It will now go the County Council for approval. If passed, it will go to Mayor Bernard Caravalho Jr.

During public testimony, Anne Walton, who lives in Kapaa, said the General Plan Update is built on an unstable foundation, including outdated data, inconsistencies and no rationale to support the reasons to keep Hokua Place in the General Plan.

“Let’s get back to where this General Plan started,” she said.

Carl Imparato, who lives in Hanalei, is concerned about how the General Plan addresses growth.

“We are drowning in an ever-expanding sea of tourists, and that excessive tourism growth is overwhelming our roads, parking capacity, parks and beaches, neighborhoods and lives,” he said.

He said nothing substantive was changed in the newest update.

“The current draft almost guarantees that county government will be the primary obstacle to genuine progress, rather than an ally in addressing the difficult issues that lie ahead,” he said.

Additionally, in the newest version, a paragraph that addresses a high tourist count was deleted, Imparato said.

He said the General Plan needs to go back to the drawing board, and when it does, he has two requests: The county needs to work with Kauai communities, and the General Plan needs to acknowledge and address Kauai’s tourism growth.

“Kauai’s health is poor. It’s like a patient in very serious condition. It needs surgery and rehabilitation, and all the General Plan is offering is a facelift.”

Commissioners made some amendments to the General Plan Update.

They added a definition to “provisional” as it relates to Provisional Agricultural, adopted agreements lined out in the Paris agreement and deleted a sentence that reflects a possibility of the Department of Land and Natural Resources beginning to charge people to go to state parks.The Planning Commission’s work on the General Plan update is complete.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Testimony against General Plan 6/14/17

Ea O Ka Aina: Okay given to destroy Paradise 6/12/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Nui Kuapapa 5/14/1
Ea O Ka Aina: Find and Limit Ourselves 2/17/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan open house 12/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Reject the Kauai General Plan update 11/30/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai County "Keep Kauai Rural!" 11/11/16
Ea O Ka Aina: General Plan Update 9/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Will developers write Kapaa's future? 5/7/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Planet Kaauai 2/26/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan disappoints 12/9/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Potash King's Palace 6/24/10
Island Breath: Kauai Districts as Townships 3/27/08
Island Breath: Sustainability & Growth 4/19/05
Island Breath: Kauai Parks Master Plan - Puolo Point 10/7/04
Island Breath: Kauai Zoning 5/15/04
.

Okay given to destroy Paradise

SUBHEAD: Hokua Place in Kapaa is part of the transformation of Kauai into Maui on its way to Oahu.

By Gabriela Taylor on 8 June 2017 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/06/okay-given-to-destroy-paradise.html)

Image above: Pedestrians negotiate heavy traffic on Kuhio Highway on east side of Kauai. Photo by Dennis Fujimoto. From (http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/no-quick-fix-in-sight/article_231bd83a-ce09-11e4-8a79-5bcc80de101c.html).

[IB Publisher's note: Gabriel had this article published in the Garden Island News.]

After receiving hundreds of public testimonies against approval for “Urban” up zoning of 97 acres behind Kapaa Middle School, called Hokua Place, Planning Commissioners, unfortunately overturned the sensible decision of the Planning Dept. (PD) to keep the land zoned “Agriculture (AG.)”.

By the time we reached the fourth iteration of the Draft General Plan, it was assigned yet another zoning category, "Neighborhood General", which is really "Urban Light" in disguise.

Additionally, Kapaa would change from the destination “Small” to a “Large Town Place Type”.
This means that up to 780 dwellings at Hokua Place would be built in an overly congested area, where traffic jams are common. See: General Plan Update website: http://www.plankauai.gov.

A friend just told me that he got stuck in gridlock when vehicles in the traffic circle came to a standstill for15 minutes. Add about 1500 cars generated from Hokua Place to that route and you have perpetual gridlock.

If that isn’t disaster enough, imagine Kuhio Highway when 2,500 cars will be added to the Kapaa Crawl by three, already approved, hotels ready to go up in the Wailua corridor: Two will be behind Longs, plus the one at the site of the old Coco Palms.

If it’s approved, our precious island home would soon become another Maui. I read letters in TGI and also hear from visitors who won’t return to Kauai because of the debilitating traffic.

Reasons For Stopping Hokua Place Development

Drowning in Traffic? The only road construction the state has slated for the next couple of years in the Kapaa area is an additional lane on the mauka side of Kuhio Highway between the Bypass Rd. and traffic light in front of Coco Palms.

Yes, there’s long line of south bound daytime traffic backed up against that light now. But don’t forget that an equal jam of north bound traffic, inches through Wailua and Kapaa, in the afternoon.

The county also has given the green light to build more housing in Kapahi and promote retail commerce, as well. Initially, the PD said that most housing would be focused in Lihue where plans are to permit residents to build an ADU next to their homes. Sadly, they abandoned plans to spare Kapaa from overdevelopment, despite traffic and diminishing quality of life.

Affordable Housing a Hoax? I recently learned that the huge Subdivision under construction at the cutoff from the highway to Hanamaulu Town, has no affordable housing.
Affordable Housing was mandated by law in 2008 to be at least 30% of new subdivisions. But guess what? Not one affordable tract has been built on Kauai since then. Even 30% is a joke when you find out that 70% of dwellings are way outside the range of what locals can afford. And to hammer that home, please note that the Median Home price on Kauai is $730,000.

That explains why 45% of Kauai homes are purchased by mainlanders or foreigners. If up zoned, Hokua Place buildout would have to include 234 affordable multifamily dwellings and the remaining would be 546 single houses. Who will buy those homes priced from $650.000 to Learn more $950,000? Clearly, such homes will attract more mainlanders and foreigners here.
Hokua Place negates food sustainability. Ag. land is meant to grow food, not houses. Given buildings, pavement and GMO fields on Kauai, agricultural production land opportunities are slowly eroding. It’s clear that with 90% of our food imported here, we must grow much more food to become sustainable.

WHAT:
Last Public Hearing for Planning Commission re General Plan Update (for the next 20 yrs).

WHEN:
Tuesday the 13th June 13, at 9am

WHERE:
Kauai County Building Meeting Room 2A/2B (adjacent to the DMV)
4444 Rice Street in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

DEADLINES:
I implore you to help save our rural life style. Please come with written testimony (12 copies) presented to the Planning Commission hearing on Tuesday June 13th, or email your testimony to Kauai Planning Department by Monday June 12th. noon.

Email address for testimony is plankauai@kauai.gov.

If we let developers suck the soul out of this tiny island where nature is our treasure, we have have not only failed our children, but we have failed Kauai. Let’s stop Hokua Place as well as stop any permitting of additional resorts on Kauai, and make Affordable Housing a priority. Enough is enough! See you Tuesday at the hearing!

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Nui Kuapapa 5/14/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Occupying the Coco Palms 3/30/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai County "Keep it Rural" 11/17/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Will developers write Kapaa’s future? 5/6/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan Disappoints 12/9/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Hokua Place comment deadline 5/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms good to go 3/11/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue Loss of Vision 9/5/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Tax Donkey Purgatory - Lima Ola 7/18/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Annals of pure bullshit - Coco Palms 6/22/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms Travesty 8/10/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Review 2000-2020 Kauai General Plan 4/2/09
Island Breath: Kauai Sustainable Land Use Plan 11/1/07
Island Breath: LEGS Sustainability Conference 10/13/07
Existing Kauai County General Plan 2000-2020 1999
.

Kouchi taps Dela Cruz

SUBHEAD: Pro-development Senator Donovan Dela Cruz takes over Senate Ways And Means Committee.

By Richard Wiens on 12 May 2017 for Civil Beat -
(http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/05/dela-cruz-takes-over-ways-and-means-as-senate-shake-up-continue s/)

Image above: Ron Kouchi appearing as an extra in the Sopranos. From (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeAiL0sLaT8).

Senate President Ron Kouchi announces new committee assignments, but there’s no word yet on the possibility of a special session for rail.

The shake-up in state Senate leadership that began at the end of the legislative session with the ouster of Sen. Jill Tokuda as chair of the Ways and Means Committee continued Friday with the announcement of some new committee chairmanships.

Senate President Ron Kouchi issued a statement saying that, as expected, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz will replace Tokuda as chair of the money committee, with Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran serving as vice chair.

Tokuda lost her position after some of her colleagues saw her as an obstacle to reaching consensus on a tax plan for the Honolulu rail project. No deal was reached before adjournment May 4, and a special session on the issue is still possible.

[IB Publisher's note: Ron Kouchi is a former Kauai County Council member and later Chair. He failed in a run for Kauai Mayor and then won an election representing Kauai in the Hawaii Senate. He is now President of the Hawaii State Senate.

Donovan Del Cruz is also a Hawaii State senator. He helped Neil Abercrombie introduce the Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC) that would have made it easy for private developers to acquire public land for speculative development or other commercial operations.

Dela Cruz and Kouchi are two conniving and manipulative sociopaths who are in it to let the speculators succeed. That includes the players in the multi-billion dollar boondoggle of Honolulu Rail. Apparently Senator Jill Tokuda wasn't playing ball.]

Image above: Donovan Dela Cruz in 2014 advocating for Transit Oriented Development of affordable housing near Hawaii Rail Stations. From (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/13145/Lawmakers-Highlight-Need-for-More-Affordable-Housing.aspx).

Kouchi also announced Friday that the Committee on Judiciary and Labor will be split into two committees, with Tokuda chairing Labor and Sen. Brian Taniguchi chairing Judiciary.

During the just-completed session, Dela Cruz was vice chair of Ways and Means, Keith-Agaran was chair of Judiciary and Labor and Taniguchi was chair of the Committee on International Affairs and the Arts.

Kouchi also announced that Sen.Kaiali‘i Kahele will be the new majority whip.

.

Grand Theft Aina: Part II

SUBHEAD: Another heist-scam spree to give corporations control of public Hawaiian lands.

By Shannon Rudolph on 1 May 2017 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/05/grand-theft-aina-part-ii.html)

http://www.islandbreath.org/2017Year/05/170502gta2big.jpg

Image above: Poster for opposition to another scam from developers to get their hands on Hawaiian public land. From author. Click to enlarge.

[IB Publisher's note 5/3/17: This proposal was defeated.]
[IB Publisher's note 5/1/17: In 2012 when then Governor Neil Abercrombie brought the PLDC proposal to Kauai he was booed so badly he had to leave the stage and exit the venue. The move was a career ender.]

We already told legislators we do not want another Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC) type bill to be passed at the legislature - there are other, better ways to deal with these issues and do not want to have to mount another repeal of a bad bill that gives away Hawaiian/Public property.

The existing laws were put in place for very good reasons & ought to stay the way they are to protect our interests from shady deals with little public input and oversight.

In the last week of the legislature - This IS Grand Theft `Aina - Part 2... and it's going to take ALL of us to stop it in it's tracks on TUESDAY!

Please SHARE with your friends & ohana!

Please copy all Legislator email addresses at the bottom of this post and shoot them a quick email to tell them to knock it off - the public is aware of what they're trying to do - and do not approve!

UNITE HERE Local 5 (Hawaii's Hospitality & Healthcare workers union) noted:

“The legislation puts significant decisions about state land use into the hands of unaccountable, unelected committees to an extent that goes far beyond what existing state and county boards and commissions have. Through the requirements in the bill about who may serve on such committees, they will tend to be biased toward the unchecked, profit-driven short-term interests of developers, real estate salespeople and bankers.

"Hawaii is a small state, and people in these circles work together frequently – because of this, committee members are almost certain to have direct or indirect conflicts of interest.

This legislation gives these unaccountable, unelected, conflicted committees the power to lease out state land for as long as they choose at whatever rates they choose, which runs directly counter to good procurement practice.

“The legislation proposes just one hearing before an unaccountable, unelected body at which the public can voice its concerns about a redevelopment project. There is no binding language that would give that public input any influence at all over a committee’s plans.

There is no language mandating where, when, or at what point in the redevelopment process such a hearing would take place. There is no language ensuring the public would even have access to information necessary to give informed testimony about a redevelopment plan.

“We are in the midst of a real estate development bubble. There is no reason this legislation should artificially prop up developers or add to the incentives they already have.

On the contrary, creating artificial incentives to build in places not supported by market demand is very risky for the state long-term. It is likely to create even more blight than whatever may already exist in a given area. This bill is written in such a way that this risk will be borne entirely by Hawaii’s citizens, not by developers.

Developers will not have an ongoing, longterm responsibility to the success of the projects they may build with the help of this bill. It is additionally perplexing that this bill does not even mention housing, much less contemplate or allow for housing to be a part of any redevelopment plans. Considering that the lack of affordable housing is one of the biggest crises Hawaii residents face, the absence of any discussion about housing in this bill is a glaring problem.”

Common Cause Hawaii opposed the bill:

“As this bill seems reminiscent of the Public Lands Development Corporation (PLDC), we are reminded that one of the many issues raised was the lack of transparency and access.

Thus, because planning committees are given broad powers including the ability to renew or renegotiate leases, and the ability to make and execute contracts, it should be clearly specified that all planning committees and their meetings are subject to our Sunshine Laws to ensure that the public has every opportunity to participate and voice their opinions on plans and activities.

We believe that the public should be involved from the outset, not after a plan has already been drafted, as these plans and how they’re implemented will affect their neighborhoods and daily lives.”

The League of Women Voters of Hawaii said:

“We support public planning for redevelopment of public lands and transparent, competitive procedures for award of long-term commercial leases on public lands. We oppose HB 1469, HD1, SD1 because this bill contains provisions which would encourage existing commercial lessees of public lands to ‘play politics` to gain special unfair treatment.”

Kauai General Plan Update

SUBHEAD: The Planning Dept and Opticos Design Inc has presided over a complete failure to produce a new plan for our future.

By Juan Wilson on 3 September 2016 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2016/09/kauai-general-plan.html)

http://www.islandbreath.org/2016Year/09/160904hanapepebig.jpg

Image above: Page 37 from Kauai Plan Closing Workshop on Hanapepe-Eleele showing the expansion of the Urban Neighborhood center, Neighborhood General, Neighborhood Edge and Residential Community "doubling" in area, indicating a doubling of population planned for this area. this will eliminate vast areas of the best potential acreage for growing food near the current residents of Hanapepe-Eleele. From (http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_1104_HanapepeEleeleClosing-1.pdf).

For some background on this issue see:
(Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan Disappoints) 9/12/15
(Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue loss of vision) 9/5/14)

When I moved to Hawaii in 2000 Kauai County issued the Kauai General Plan. It was produced with community participation in 1998-99 and was actually a pretty good effort. It can still be found on the County website at (http://www.kauai.gov/Government/Departments-Agencies/Planning-Department/Long-Range-Division/The-Kauai-General-Plan).

The plan looked ahead twenty years and hoped to guide planning over that period in an alignment with the hopes and wishes of the residents of the island. The take away from the 2000 Plan was "Keep Kauai Rural!". To those on Kauai involved with the plan that meant, NOT urban and NOT suburban! "Chapter 2: Community Values" stated:

2.1 COMMUNITY VALUES
The Community Values were formulated by the Citizens Advisory Committee, using input from 25 outreach meetings with a variety of community, business and public interest groups.

The statement was revised based on public review and the initial round of Planning District
meetings in June 1998.

Protection, management, and enjoyment of our open spaces, unique natural beauty, rural lifestyle, outdoor recreation and parks.

Conservation of fishing grounds and other natural resources, so that individuals and families can support themselves through traditional gathering and agricultural activities.

Access to and along shorelines, waterways and mountains for all. However, access should be controlled where necessary to conserve natural resources and to maintain the quality of public sites for fishing, hunting, recreation and wilderness activities valued by the local community.

Recognition that our environment IS our economy, our natural capital, the basis of our economic survival and success.

Balanced management of our built environment, clustering new development around existing communities and maintaining the four story height limit.

Diverse job and business opportunities so that people of all skill levels and capabilities can support themselves and their families.

Government that supports and encourages business.

Balanced economic growth development promoting providing good jobs and a strong economy, without sacrificing our environment and or our quality of life.

Respect and protection for the values and rights of our many cultures, in compliance with our laws and responsibilities as citizens.

Preservation of our cultural, historical, sacred and archeological sites.

Appreciation and support for the traditions of the Native Hawaiian host culture and the many other cultural traditions and values that make up the Kauai community.

Those were the community values that would guide planning going forward to 2020. The vision forward forward was also in Chapter 2:

2.2 VISION FOR KAUAI 2020
The Vision describes conditions on Kauai in the year 2020 and is written from the standpoint of that point in time. It reflects not only the Community Values but also the issues and opportunities foreseen by community members. The Vision expresses what Kauai should strive for, in the context of realistic conditions as they are understood in 1999.

The Vision is presented first in summary, then in a longer narrative. We envision that in 2020 Kauai will be . . .

a “garden island” of unsurpassed natural beauty;

a rural environment of towns separated by broad open spaces;

a vital modern society formed by the people and traditions of many cultures;an island of distinctly individual towns and communities, each with its own unique history and character;

a community which values its historic places and where people practice and draw strength from ancient languages and cultural traditions;

a rural place whose population size and economy have been shaped to sustain Kauai's natural beauty, rural environment and lifestyle;

a community which cares for its land and waters, leading the way with best management practices in the development of roads and other public facilities and in its land development and environmental regulations;

an agricultural center, producing a wide range of crops, food, and forest products for local consumption and export;

a resort destination where visitors are welcomed, supported with adequate facilities, and provided with a variety of cultural and recreational opportunities;

a resort destination whose government and industry leaders respect the island’s residents and their need to have a community life where visitors are not always present and who find effective ways to protect residents’ customary use of special places for religious and cultural observances, fishing, gathering, hunting and recreation;

and an island whose government supports the labor force and small business owners, firmly holding to essential policies and regulations while eliminating unnecessary red tape.

In fact the Kauai General Plan 2000 was too good for the land speculators and project developers intent on making a killing in Kauai real estate aided and abetted by county employees and public servants. So, as a result, the General Plan was put on a shelf and ignored.

Ten years after the work done to put together the General Plan, a wave of dicey real estate deals were frothing through the American economy. Kauai had more than its share. Over ten thousand units of speculative condos, timeshares, and residents were moving forward in places like Poipu and Kapaa.

Fortunately for those on Kauai who don't live here for the nightlife, shopping opportunities and traffic; that real estate bubble crashed before totally engulfing Kauai with suburban sprawl like Mililani, Oahu or Kihei, Maui, where traffic congestion and national franchises rule the land.

The County Planning Department has recently been involved in a process to update the plan looking forward another generation. To do this they conducted community meetings around the island and hired a planning consulting firm, Opticos Design, Incorporated. The city of Flagstaff, Arizona used this same firm for its 2011 zoning update. The Flagstaff website tells the tale:

The intent of the new Zoning Code was to not only update and modernize the Code, but also to create regulations that reinforce the community's desires as expressed in the Regional Plan to promote Sustainable Development practices and Smart Growth principles.

For those of you who don't know planning jargon Sustainable Development translates to DEVELOPMENT and Smart Growth translates to GROWTH.

When I looked at the current effort that Opticos Design that is detailed online the first thing that caught my attention was the url www.plankauai.com. that's a commercial domain. Not a ".org" or even more appropriately a ".info". The ".info" is for credible resource websites ("org".edu" and ".gov." are other non commercial designations). Whereas the ".com" (and ".biz") are reserved for commercial enterprises. Why would an online public planning effort be a commercial enterprise?

The Plan Kauai website seems to avoid telling you what it is really up to. There is a lot of "eye candy" layout and graphics and "feel good" pictures of local sites and residents. But the planning substance is hard to find, incomplete and poor in quality.

A simplistic concept of concentric levels of density around core "urban centers" has been used to explain and rationalize filling out every community on the island with denser development. Some of these "urban centers" are not much more than four corners with a stop sign.

Opticos Designs website reports on the planning effort are not up to date.

Below are links to four of the latest planning documents for different parts of the island. I challenge Kauai residents to find this information on the Plan Kauai website. Obviously eastside Lihue-Hanamaulu and the southside Koloa-Kalaheo areas are not listed below (and it seems unavailable to the public for review this late in the game). By the way, each of the PDF files below are more than half identical boilerplate for the first 30 so so pages.

Waimea to Kekaha:
(http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_1104_Waimea-KekahaClosing.pdf)

Hanapepe to Eleele:
(http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_1104_HanapepeEleeleClosing-1.pdf)

Wailua to Anahola:
(http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/East-Kauai-Closing-Pres-sm.pdf)

Kilauea to Hanalei:
(http://plankauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_1106_NorthShoreClosing.pdf)

I recently wrote to my colleagues on the Executive Committee of the Kauai Group Sierra Club

Fellow Ex Comm Members:

I reviewed the final Kauai Plan Closing Workshops proposals this morning. I looked in some detail at the Westside, because I know it best. That includes Hanapepe-Eleele, Waimea-Kekaha.

As far as I am concerned the plans are a complete failure. They do not address the future, but look to the trajectories of the past and decided the best course was to continue on the same path we are on and step on the gas.

Development, Growth, Suburbanization are their guides and Sustainability, Self-reliance, Food Security are unmentioned.

Also unmentioned are Global Warming, Climate Change and Ocean Rising.

Even pretending this is a serious effort on the part of our Planning Department is an insult to planning.

I’ll give you example closest to my home of a “total failure” of planning in Hanapepe Valley. The area I live in is designated by the State of Hawaii as “Rural”. Not “Urban” or “Agricultural”. It is heavily wooded and has acres of taro, pasture, and small farms. There are residences and junkyards.

Food is produced here, birds have forested refuge and there are horses, goats, pigs, domestic chickens and hunting dogs. Much of this would not be happening in a urban or even suburban development.

The General Plan proposal for the area I live in is for filling in more residential suburban development like Hanapepe Heights and Eleele. Both totally unsustainable living areas. This plan if implemented would destroy the old Hawaiian style way of living in a valley in Hawaii.

The motto of the previous Kauai Plan was "Keep Kauai rural!” Obviously, that idea was thrown under the bus by the Planning Department.

I recommend the Sierra Club reject this update of the Kauai General Plan.

Juan Wilson: Architect-Planner

In the case of where I live in Hanapepe-Eleele this planning approach would result in doubling the developed area and population of the community in 20 years. I think if this criteria is used throughout Kauai for planning the island could not be self-sustainable.

Moreover, in the future when imported fresh vegetable and frozen food are no longer routinely available from the mainland our outer islands of Hawaii will be required to not only sustain themselves but also support the currently unsustainable population of Oahu.

Not if, but when the current model of international global marketing fails, we in Hawaii will greatly regret doubling the needed carrying capacity of our islands. Kamaaina (people raised locally) translates in Hawaiian to the "fruit of the land". Hawaiian culture places human communities a subset of the local watershed based biosphere. or "ahupuaa".

Nature cannot be a subset of human activity. That way lies apocalypse.

.

Will developers write Kapaa’s future?

SUBHEAD: The General Plan update forsakes "Keep Kauai Rural" for major Eastside development.

By Gabriela Taylor on 6 May 2016 in Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2016/05/will-developers-write-kapaas-future.html)

http://www.islandbreath.org/2016Year/05/160507hokuaplanbig.jpg

Image above: The developers of HoKua Place proudly showing inclusion of their traffic stopping development near the Kapaa Bypass Road in the Kauai General Plan Update. Also note the solid block of Urban Center (orange) and Resort Area (maroon) along crowded east coast between Wailua and Kapaa. From (http://www.hokuaplace.com/general-plan.html). Click to embiggen.

WHAT:
General Plan Update Meeting on Kauai Traffic

WHEN:
Monday, May 9th 2016 from 2:00pm to 4:30pm

WHERE:
Kauai County Building Meeting Room 2A/2B (adjacent to the DMV)
4444 Rice Street in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

I’ve been attending the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) General Plan Update Meetings, because it’s vital that we give our input about decisions that will affect us on Kauai for the next 20 years and beyond.

I’m discouraged about the direction that this is going and need your help. Please read my Garden Island newspaper article below for a more comprehensive explanation of what happened last week the all day GPU meeting for development of the Eastside, where the developer for Hokua Place resurfaced and was supported by the county as though it were a done deal. And I was the only one there to contest it.

Please remember that in addition to the 780 dwellings (only 25% affordable), there are 3 new resorts going up over the next 4 years in the Wailua Corridor. Doing the math, this equates to at least 3000 additional cars pouring onto Kuhio Highway. And the DOT only has committed to building one more lane from the south end of the Kapaa By-Pass Road to the light at the corner of Coco Palms. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg regarding traffic!

We need to flood the CAC with testimony. It is important to state the problem, but then necessary to come up with solutions. I will ask the CAC for the following:

A moratorium on permits for any new resorts and non-affordable housing developments.
Go back to the 2000 GPU and delete the proposed up-zoning from Ag to Urban of the 97 acres proposed for Hokua Place development (with more dwellings than the House lots), to be built with a commercial component, behind the Kapaa Middle School.

I will also support new Bill#2627 proposed by Gary Hooser and Mason Chock to add affordable rentals, in a unique way, to Lihue District. They acknowledged that Kapaa/Wailua District isn’t appropriate for such development:

"There are many challenges not he least of which is the extreme traffic in the Kawaihau District.” (TGI, op-ed column Forum page, May 4).

Will developers determine our future?

By Gabriela Taylor on 28 April 2016 for the Garden Island
(http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/will-developers-determine-our-future/article_bd36fbc8-dd73-5e79-bbac-fdc4194f7632.html)

The April 28th “Community Place Type and Visioning Workshops” meeting in Kapaa was an all day opportunity for the residents of Kapaa to stand up and speak to what is important for our future. Sadly, few residents were seen among several county employees as well as the CAC, (General Plan Update (GPU) Committee members).

Crippling Kapaa traffic was barely mentioned or the already planned future developments (6 in total), further contributing to the already insurmountable congestion problems, let alone any significant solutions presented for addressing these most pressing issues.

It was disappointing to not hear the DOT speak of solid plans for road expansion, save for the pittance of a third lane added from the south Kapaa By-Pass Rd running in front of Coco Palms to Olehena Rd., to begin construction in 2017.

But the biggest shock was to see that slides, projected on a screen by the county, displayed images of the proposed 97 acres for Urban development beside Kapaa Middle School with the same zoning designation color as urban downtown Kapaa, as though Hokua Place were a done deal.

There have been more than 160 written testimonies as well as oral comments protesting this monstrosity in previous public hearings. The developer, Greg Allen, was there defending the up-zoning from agriculture to urban for Hokua Place, as well as were some county employees (conflict of interest?) who thought it would be good for the economy (property taxes?).

Hey county!! What about the quality of our lives here in the Wailua/Kapaa area?

The final wrap-up presentation, which included recaps of the CAC process, sorely lacked substance and insights on how people on the east side are going to manage with the lack of the most basic quality of life factors being met today as a result of poor planning in the past, and now compounded as we move forward into the future.

Are we willing to learn from past mistakes and make a course correction, or are we only willing to repeat them through complacency?

We need to pause and conduct a comprehensive calibration of where we are and how we got here. That means examining all aspects of what it means to be a remote island state. What about lack of affordable housing and food security on an island with 90% of food imported (boat and plane) and the challenge of affording to live here when cheap oil disappears?

Up-zoning Ag land or leasing it to seed companies is not in the interest of sustainability for our island. In essence, the band aid approach will not work unless the Herculean challenge of sustainability is faced. We are living on a small island that ships or flies in 90% of it’s food.

Climate Change challenges us, even now, with droughts and unusual weather patterns that threaten agriculture everywhere. Food prices will go up when cheap oil runs out. I haven’t heard the CAC/GPU respond to that, nor to affordable housing.

Besides creating more mayhem to the stressed traffic situation, Hokua Place has categorized only 25% of its nearly 780 proposed housing units as affordable (online: luc.hawaii.gov). The question is what is the threshold for “affordable” and to whom does this apply, and compared to what one is using as the base for “unaffordable”.

Of course, they can sell expensive dwellings to people moving here from the mainland. Imagine nearly 1600 additional cars from Hokua Place and another 1600 guests and employees from the three new Wailua resort developments behind Longs and Coco Palms flooding Kapaa/Wailua, and cry, or pray that road rage and depression don’t do us in with heart attacks! This is not to mention the barely acknowledged additional “entitled residential projects” – Kulana and Pi’ilani Mai He Kai (DHHL Anahola).

Before that happens, I ask you to get involved in this community process by attending the next CAC/GPU meeting on Traffic Monday May 9, 2-4:30 in the Lihue County building, adjacent to the DMV. Public speaking time is limited so make it short, but please either turn in written testimony or email it to to: (plankkauai@kauai.gov)

Ask the CAC/GPU, to go back to the last GPU of year 2000, and delete the recommendation that 93 agricultural acres behind the Kapaa Middle School Urban be up-zoned to Urban.

Also, how about considering a moratorium on resort development, no more permits given for resorts and non-affordable housing developments in the Kapaa/Wailua area and put the focus on addressing our most current and pressing issues instead of exasperating them? See you there!

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Wailua self destruction 8/20/15
Ea O Ka Aina: My Hokua Place Testimony 6/20/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Hokua Place comment deadline 6/18/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms Good to Go 3/11/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Kapaa Heights Development 1/14/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue loss of vision 9/5/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Annals of pure bullshit - Coco Palms 6/22/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms Travesty 8/10/13
.

Kauai Plan disappoints

SUBHEAD: The Kauai Planning department doesn't see solutions and does not understand the future rushing at us.

By Juan Wilson on 9 December 2015 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2015/12/kauai-plan-disappoints.html)

http://www.islandbreath.org/2015Year/12/151209hanapepebig.jpg

Image above: In this map from the Kauai Planning Department the proposed future land use categories the two lighter orange colored areas are mostly on state designated Agricultural and Rural land use areas and would in the future be used for suburban development. Click to enlarge. See links below for source.

The proposed General Plan map of the Hanapepe-Eleele area is above. Click on it to enlarge. It's from the Closing Presentation put together by the Planning Department. If I read it correctly and if the plan were fulfilled, the population of the area will be doubled.

One of the few areas on the island designated by the State as "Rural Use" would be re-characterized as "Neighborhood Edge and Neighborhood General. I have lived in the middle of the Rural Use area for 15 years.

This rural area supports acres of taro, has many productive home food gardens as well as a large canopy of trees supports birds and bees). The taro fields support Koloa ducks, egrets, other aquatic birds. This area will be getting the same planning designation as Eleele.

And for those of you that don't now Eleele's character you should now that means small suburban lots in a maze of cul-de-sacs near a shopping plaza with a McDonalds.

The plan, in fact, proposes a deep ring of urban/suburban development with Old Hanapepe town as its center. It appears that about two-thirds of that suburban area is on what is now designated "Agriculture".

Before we go on, let's take a look back at the last General Plan of 15 years ago.

In the late 1990's the County developed the 2000 Kauai General Plan (see http://www.kauai.gov/Portals/0/planning/GeneralPlan/Ch1.PDF). It's chapters were titled:

Planning for the Future
Vision for Kauai 2020
Caring for Land, Water and Culture
Developing Jobs and Business
Preserving Kauai’s Rural Character
Enhancing Towns & Communities and Providing for Growth
Building Public Facilities and Services
Improving Housing, Parks and Schools
Implementation

Note that the first specific item on the list was "Caring for Land, Water and Culture"

Back then the sugar industry was beginning its long descent into oblivion and the agricultural jobs were dwindling. A pressing need seemed to be "Developing Jobs and Business". This was an understandable concern for residents whose jobs were lost or threatened.

Next on list of issues was "Preserving Kauai’s Rural Character". That was ahead of "Enhancing Towns & Communities and Providing for Growth". Now I'm all for enhancing towns and communities, but that last bit "Providing for Growth" is the kicker. That's really what Planning Departments are all about.

Since I first visited Kauai in 1971 (when the only impediment to driving around the island was the occasional blinking orange light at a cane-haul truck crossing) until when I moved here in 2001 there has been a doubling of the population living on Kauai. From about 30,000 to about 60,000.

The current proposed update to the General Plan is setting its sites on "Providing for Growth". I suppose that means an attempt to rekindle the housing bubble that burst in 2008. Most of those contractors, subcontractors and daily workers that rode the boom were left high and dry.

About the only jobs, outside of government service, for most people on Kauai are positions as maids for hotels visitors, grounds keepers for rich people or scarecrows for GMO companies.

As far as "Caring for Land, Water and Culture" and "Preserving Kauai's Rural Character" the 2000 Kauai Plan has been a failure. Kauai has been suburbanized. This isn't just about living in a single family home on a cul-de-sac. This is about how you live on the land.

It is increasingly difficult to go to places that people used to go to enjoy life on this island. Whether its Kipu Falls, Oiiki Falls, Kapaa Slippery Slide, Papaa Bay Beach, or Barking Sands, it is getting increasingly harder to get to places on private and even public lands.

It's getting so the only place you will be permitted to go besides your home is the shopping mall, the supermarket or a permitted county beach park. That's not living on Kauai. That's like living in suburban Galveston, Texas.

As I have said many times, we here on Kauai don't live here for the night life or shopping. Among reasons we live here for the beauty and seclusion of the place.

If the new General Plan is as bad as that old General Plan we are in for some real trouble.

Look at the world. Check out its ruin. Do you really think planning for doubling the population of Kauai once more is the answer to anything?

The real answer to the problems ahead are getting people back to local sustainability and resilience. Given the impacts of Global Warming, Climate Change and Rising Oceans( or GWROCC), many places already don't really have that option - Arizona, Nevada, California, Florida... Oahu.

If GWROCC is not too severe we here in Hawaii could be self reliant. Hawaiians were for centuries with possibly as big a population.

But if we do to the outer islands what has happened on Oahu then Hawaii won't be sustainable. We will suffer badly without the container ships and fuel tankers from the mainland.

If we plan on doubling the population of Kauai we can just kiss our asses a collective goodbye.

To see the plans I saw available for Hanapepe-Eleele, Waimea-Kekaha and the North Shore. Check out where you live and see if the build-out of what is proposed will be an enhancement. PDF files of the studies and proposals are linked below.

Hanapepe-Eleele
- Opening Presentation
- Closing Presentation
Waimea-Kekaha
- Opening Presentation
- Closing Presentation
North Shore
- Opening Presentation
- Closing Presentation

The last thing we need is striving for more growth! In my opinion the Kauai Planning Commission and Planning Department has failed us. But that is no surprise. They have been the willing tools of the speculators and the developers. They do not see solutions and do not understand the future rushing at us.

On the upside - given the rate of economic deterioration and the likelihood of another bubble bursting bank fiasco - those new cul-de-sacs will never be built. On the down side - we'll have wasted more time getting to where we need to go.

.

Wailua self destruction

SOURCE: Ken Taylor (taylork021@hawaii.rr.com)
SUBHEAD: A tragic move. Kauai County green lights Coco Palms Resort demolition and renovation.

By Darin Moriki on 18 August 2015 for Pacific Business News -
(http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2015/08/19/kauai-county-green-lights-coco-palms-resort.html)

Image above: What is all the nostalgia about? Elvis has left the building. Even undamaged this "resort" looks like a rustic Motel 6. The proposed new facility by Ron Agor Architects is worse than the original. From (https://roadtrippers.com/us/kauai-hi/points-of-interest/coco-palms-resort).

[IB Publisher's note: As a retired architect and planner all I can say is "Wow!" How stupid can we get. I applaud the go ahead on the demolition approval. But giving the okay to this project to rebuild a large resort hotel on this sensitive site is not much more than the payoff on a Ponzi scheme operated by the developers. Our local government agents have proven to be the apprentices and bag-men for these "developers". The Coco Palms has been a cultural and end environmental abomination since the day it was first built in 1953. Kauai should know better. The site of this project is the nexus of many problems we face from traffic gridlock to cultural insensitivity, to rising seas and chaotic ocean storms due to clogal warming. As the ocean chews its way through the Kuhio Highway in front of the Coco Palms we'll be kicking ourselves for not seeing this coming disaster.]

The $135 million project to redevelop the famed Coco Palms Resort on Kauai came one step closer to becoming a reality after Kauai County officials on Wednesday released the first set of permits needed to begin demolition work.

The state Historic Preservation Division this week officially verified that the Honolulu-based group of investors who will purchase and redevelop the Coco Palms Resort, Coco Palms Hui LLC, satisfied all of their requirements, paving the way for building and demolition permits to be released to the group.

"As we all know, a lot of faith was put into this project and a lot of people, some reluctantly, gave the green light and it's like the last hurrah for Coco Palms," Kauai Planning Commissioner Sean Mahoney told Coco Palms Hui LLC principal Tyler Greene and Coco Palms Resort architect Ron Agor during a board meeting last week. "A lot of people are rooting for it."

The County of Kauai officially released the demolition permits for structures on the Wailua property on Wednesday, giving Coco Palms Hui LLC six months to complete the demolition work.
Greene said the demolition process should be complete within four to six months.

"There was an issue with capacity here at the landfill on Kauai, so we'll have to ship that rubbish to Oahu, which is part of the factor in the timing of that," Greene explained.

The Wailua resort — made famous by its appearance in the 1961 Elvis Presley film "Blue Hawaii," was shuttered immediately after Hurricane Iniki battered the Garden Isle on Sept. 11, 1992, and has never reopened since then.

The project would include 273 hotel rooms and 77 suites within the hotel’s existing footprint — a slight reduction from the 398 to 403 rooms that existed in the original hotel.

As currently proposed, well-known buildings on the property, including the Prince Cottages, Queen’s Cottages, King’s Cottages, and King and Queen Lagoon Buildings, will be re-built and raised above the ground to comply with federal flood requirements.

The entire 350-room resort, which will be flagged and operated by Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H), should be open by spring 2017.

PBN reached out to Greene and his partner, Chad Waters, for comment.

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