Zoning Meeting re: Haseko recessed until Sep. 22

Tuesday, after a 6-hour intensive discussion regarding Bill 62, Bill 63, & Resolution 16-180 relating to the Hoakalei Master Plan Update, Zoning Chair Councilmember Trevor Ozawa recessed the Special Zoning & Planning Meeting until September 22, 2016.

I would like to express a mahalo to residents who submitted testimony for yesterday’s important meeting.  As your District 1 Councilmember, I will continue to fight to ensure that my community’s voice is heard.

During yesterday’s meeting, I introduced a Draft which increases preservation land and limits maintenance costs to homeowners, while allowing Haseko to retain their rights for their already-permitted resort and multi-family housing development.  It is disappointing that the developer and their friends are against this community-based proposal. 

 Summary of my Proposed Amendments:

• Moving a proposed resort within the Navy’s aviation easement back to its currently permitted footprint, thus resolving the National Guard’s and the Coast Guard’s concerns that federal law prohibits Haseko from building a resort in the proposed area.

• Increasing preservation lands instead of replacing it with more housing units while still enabling the developer to build the same number of units it promised in the original resort and medium-density footprints where the developer is already allowed to build today.

• Adding a provision requested by current Hoakalei homeowners, that they would not have to pay more than $50 a month in fees to support the resort project.  Haseko is currently proposing that homeowners pay for 30% of the lagoon maintenance.  Hoakalei homeowners are worried that they will be financially pushed out of their homes as Ko Olina residents were.  (Ko Olina residents are only required to pay 15% of resort maintenance while businesses and hotels pay for the rest.  However, their monthly association fees average about $1,000 a month!)

URGENT: We are two weeks away from our next meeting and I need your testimony & participation!

Special Zoning & Planning Meeting

Date: September 22, 2016

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Location: Honolulu Hale – 2nd Floor Committee Room

If you cannot make it to the Sept. 22 meeting, you may submit testimony now by emailing me at kmpine@honolulu.gov or calling 768-5001.