Hale‘iwa residents continued to fight against a planned housing development at Wednesday’s Honolulu City Council meeting.
For the last decade, a company called Hale‘iwa Backyards LLC has been developing a proposal to build an affordable housing project on a 7.5-acre parcel in Hale‘iwa.
According to project documents, the development would include about 150 apartment units and 30,000 square feet of commercial space, along with parking spaces and a wastewater management system. The project promises 10% of the units would be affordable for people making 80% of the area median income, with a "conceptual monthly rent" of $2,500 for a 2-bedroom apartment.
An approximate timeline for the project predicts that construction could begin in autumn of 2026 and be completed two years later.
The land on which the project would be built is a narrow property adjacent to the Joseph P. Leong Highway and just south of ‘Ōpae‘ula Road. A report by the County Department of Planning and Permitting states that the property is not known to have had any permanent use since the sugar plantation era.
However, the land is zoned as Restricted Agricultural. The council on July 9 discussed a bill that would change the land’s use district to Urban, which would allow the project to proceed.
This was not popular among Hale‘iwa residents or other advocates, who testified for an hour on Wednesday against the project.
State Sen. Kurt Fevella (R-‘Ewa Beach) told the council that the current state of Hale‘iwa cannot support a project of such scale.
“How much do you guys even drive in Hale‘iwa when it’s not even a busy day?” Fevella asked. “It takes 20 minutes just to get from one end to the other.”
Fevella opined that removing agricultural land to build houses is the opposite of what the state should be doing: “If we’re gonna put our money where our mouth is, grow our own food … We’re not going to solve [a housing crisis] by taking up all the farmland and building houses.”
North Shore resident Denise Antolini said the project seems to contradict the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan, which she said sets aside land such as the project site for open space and agricultural development.
Hundreds of letters were submitted to the council urging them to “keep country country” and reject the bill.
“Hale‘iwa is already inundated with visitors, resulting in constant traffic problems, lack of parking and overuse of our beach parks,” wrote one Andrea Woods. “Adding more housing and a business section will only exacerbate an ongoing problem. The proposed development poses significant threats to the cultural integrity, environmental sustainability and community character of Hale‘iwa and the broader North Shore region.”
There was some support for the project, notably from more than 100 members of the Hawai‘i Regional Union of Carpenters, who submitted form letters advocating for “housing options we can realistically afford.”
“This isn’t about luxury development or sprawl,” read those letters. “This land is already surrounded by roads, businesses and urban uses.”
No representatives of Hale‘iwa Backyards LLC testified Wednesday.
Despite the extensive testimony against the project, the council ultimately voted in favor of the bill. Council Vice Chair Andria Tupola noted that the vote is not necessarily an endorsement of the project, but merely for the zoning change, and that the developers will still need to pass other permitting hurdles for the project to come to fruition.
Hale‘iwa Councilman Matt Weyer was the only council member to vote against the bill, saying that it would be premature to decide on the zoning change while a revision of the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan is still underway.
In any case, the council vote only passed the bill at second reading, meaning it still has to pass another committee hearing and a final council vote to be enacted.
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