Posted on: Thursday, June 27, 2002

New site offered for UH in Kapolei

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

KAPOLEI — A third and much larger Kapolei site has been added to the list of possible locations for the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu campus, UH officials told residents here last night.

Residents concerned over the university's previous choices for the Kapolei campus seemed more receptive to the latest option: 320 acres east of Kapolei Golf Course, along Farrington Highway and referred to as Kapolei Makai.

UH officials were eyeing two other parcels — a 59-acre site next to Kapolei Middle School in the Villages of Kapolei residential subdivision, and a 27-acre location in downtown Kapolei — as possible sites for the four-year undergraduate school to ultimately accommodate 6,500 to 7,500 students.

The UH administration is expected to make a recommendation on a preferred site to the Board of Regents in September. All three properties are state-owned.

Allan Ah San, UH associate vice president for administration, said the Kapo-lei Makai site was brought into the mix after residents expressed concern that the two other sites are too small for expansion and would contribute to traffic jams.

About two dozen people attending the Villages of Kapolei Community Association Board meeting at the Kapolei Recreation Center questioned whether either of the smaller Kapolei locations would be adequate to hold the projected number of students, and wondered about the lack of parking.

Area lawmakers and community leaders said they felt more comfortable with the larger Kapolei Makai location than the other options. State Rep. Mark Moses, R-42nd (Ka-polei, 'Ewa Village, Village Park), said he strongly favors the bigger site because it "provides room to grow."

"It's wide open, so if we want to build a stadium and ball field later on, we have the room to do it," Moses said. "I didn't like the other two sites because there is simply no room for parking. These will be older students who drive, and you need to do so to get around out here."

Sen. Brian Kanno, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Makakilo, Kapolei), said the Kapolei Makai site is closer to the size of the 990-acre Makakilo site previously looked at for the campus. Until recently, the state wanted the campus at the Makakilo property mauka of the H-1 Freeway. But with infrastructure costs estimated as high as $200 million, university officials began looking at other options.

"With the university originally planned for 900 acres, it would have been a rough transition to such a smaller site as 59 or 27 (acres)," Kanno said.

UH officials stressed that the campus project is only in the conceptual stages to gather community input. The plan is to partially open the new campus by 2005 to initially handle about 2,750 students.

Kapolei residents at the meeting didn't want the "suburban" campus right in the back of their Villages of Kapolei community along Kapolei Parkway. The 59-acre site off Kapolei Parkway between the Kapolei Middle School and 'Ewa Village is on land where the state initially proposed a sports complex.

UH officials said it would probably consist of four- and five-story buildings with parking structures.

While there is the appeal of an "Education Row" along Kapolei Parkway with middle and high schools next door, residents are concerned about traffic congestion so close to a residential area with a lack of parking for campus users.

"We're tired of the (construction-related) dust ... and having buses and other traffic going through the middle of the Kapolei neighborhood will make things dangerous," said Villages of Kapolei board member Carolyn Ancheta.

The 27-acre "urban" campus would be in the designated civic center section of Kapolei, next to the Kapolei state office tower off Kamokila Boulevard. Area parking is limited there as well. Officials said it may consist of five- to 10-story buildings with a four- to five-story parking structure.

Kapolei Makai would be 320 acres, but could be expanded to 500, UH officials said. It would consist of two- to three-story buildings, with ground-level parking.

UH officials are scheduled to discuss the project with the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board July 11.