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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Homestead project drops commercial plan

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has scaled back its Lalamilo development planned for nearly 250 acres between Waimea and Kawaihae, removing a commercial and light industrial zone formerly on its eastern boundary.

According to the final environmental impact statement on the project, Lalamilo will include the 442 residential homestead lots originally proposed, but 16 acres of commercial-industrial land will remain in agricultural use.

The change came in response to community opposition, said DHHL spokesman Francis Apoliona.

Construction on the first 34 units is to begin next year. The project is expected to take seven years to complete.

Required water-supply and wastewater treatment systems are estimated to cost $28 million, according to the environmental document; total project costs will depend on developers' proposals.

The property is part of land acquired from the state in a 1994 settlement to restore the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust to the inventory required by federal law. The lots would be awarded to people whose ancestry is at least half Hawaiian and who have indicated a preference for living in North Hawai'i.

The project is expected to be paid for with income from other DHHL properties, including the Prince Kuhio Plaza shopping center in Hilo, which returns more than $1 million a year, and industrial leases in Hilo.

Approximately half the homes would be built by developers, the other half by owner-builders or through self-help housing programs. The minimum lot size would be 10,000 square feet.

The project is part of a larger tract, the Waikoloa Maneuver area, formerly used for military training. The Army Corps of Engineers has set aside money this fiscal year to clear unexploded ordnance from the area, according to the statement.

Concerns raised by the Waimea community when the draft statement was issued last year included possible school crowding and traffic. The project also could have a visual impact on the rural community, said attorney Roy Vitousek, who represents Hawaii Preparatory Academy, across from the project site. His letter is part of the final environmental impact statement.