Punalu'u temple wins support
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
A proposed temple/community center on agriculture land in Punalu'u won unanimous approval for a state special-use permit from the city Planning Commission yesterday, with conditions.
The Lao Buddhist Foundation of Hawai'i wants to construct three pagoda-like buildings and a parking lot on 32,000 square feet of its 5-acre parcel on Puhuli Street in the defunct Kaluanui agriculture subdivision adjacent to Sacred Falls State Park.
The foundation now must obtain a conditional-use permit from the city before a building permit can be granted.
Three to four Buddhist monks will live on the property and provide for the religious and social needs of the Laotian farming community on the North Shore, said Timothy Hata, with the Department of Planning and Permitting.
"The applicant hopes that the temple will help reduce problems of vandalism and crop theft that had tainted previous attempts to promote diversified agriculture in the area," Hata said.
The department recommended approval of the application with conditions. The most significant is a requirement that the temple submit an agriculture plan for the rest of the parcel, he said. The plan will have to be submitted prior to building and include the types of crops that will be grown and a timetable for cultivation.
Hata said this was the first time the department had requested this kind of plan, but it wanted assurance that the foundation would cultivate the land.
Five people testified in favor of the project, including several neighbors who said the Laotian farmers in the community have been good neighbors and hard workers. Terry Murakami said the temple and people living there would help deter trash dumping, vehicle abandonment and drug dealing.
The Punaluu Community Association said it would have supported the construction of the temple if the owners had agreed in writing to maintain the rest of the property in agriculture in perpetuity. But the owners were unwilling to do that, said David Mikonczyk, president of the association.
"The fear is that so much of the ag land is being converted," Mikonczyk said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
