Big Island panel approves rezoning of Lili'uokalani Trust land

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — Queen Lili'uokalani Trust won preliminary approval last week from a committee of the Hawai'i County Council to rezone 100 acres from industrial to commercial use near Kailua Village.

The planning committee voted 7-0 to recommend the request and sent it on to the full council for two readings. The rezoning previously won approval from the planning commission and Mayor Harry Kim.

"It just makes sense," said council Chairman Jimmy Arakaki of Hilo. He said the Kona change will follow current trends of developing business outlets north of the village.

Jim Bell, planning consultant to the trust, said industrial development is occurring farther north of Kailua in the Keahole area near Kona International Airport.

Makalapua Business Center will be developed in phases of 35, 25 and 30 acres over a 10-year period. The remaining 10 acres will consist of roadways and setbacks.

The change is expected to financially benefit the trust because commercial land can be leased at higher rates than industrial sites.

It is the second major development by the Lili'uokalani Trust, established by Hawai'i's last monarch to benefit orphaned Hawaiian children.

The trust opened its Makalapua Shopping Center, about a quarter mile mauka of the commercial complex, in 1994. It houses Kona's Liberty House, Kmart and a 10-screen movie complex on a 50-acre site.

The two properties are separated by Queen Ka'ahumanu State Highway, which is to be expanded to four lanes soon.

Bell and managing trustee Frank Jahrling said buildings will be limited to two stories and utilities will be underground. Roads have been built and water lines are in place.

The only operations on the site now are the recently moved HPM Building Supply on 6.6 acres and a commercial golf driving range.

Kona councilman Curtis Tyler III called the rezoning "a step in the right direction" because it no longer is an ideal industrial site. "The town has come to the industrial area," he explained of Kailua's northward sprawl.

The trust serves an estimated 3,000 beneficiaries — Hawaiian youth who are troubled or orphaned — through counseling and group programs statewide.

Most of its land holdings are in Kona, where the Lili'uokalani Trust owns more than 4,000 acres, most of which is undeveloped. Jahrling said lands being rezoned will be offered on long-term leases.