By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources today cleared the way for an education center and other development in Hanauma Bay.
About 70 people crowded into the hearing room for the Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting today to offer testimony for or against the proposed development at Hanauma Bay.
Testimony started at 9 a.m. and continued for 5 1/2 hours before the board took a break. The board reconvened and approved a final conservation district use permit for the development, the last hurdle for the project.
Those who spoke against the development described it as too large and a distraction from the natural beauty of the area. Those who favored the development, including many Friends of Hanauma Bay volunteers, said it’s the only appropriate way to educate the public about dangers to the bay’s reef and how it can be preserved.
The part of the development under dispute includes an education center, snack bar and a gift shop away from the beach and on the upper bay area. Other the parts of the development — including restrooms and life guard stands near the beach — are not in dispute.
Advertiser Staff Writer Robbie Dingeman contributed to this report.
[back to top] |
