Kahalu'u residents hope to block zoning variance
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAHALU'U — About 30 residents of Halemanu Street will seek neighborhood board support in opposing a proposal to allow a caretaker's dwelling on preservation land above homes in 'Ahuimanu.
Dr. Elenita Alvarez is requesting the zoning variance for her Palm Nursery Ltd. crop production business, situated on a 16-acre lot at the end of Halemanu Street. The land is zoned P-2 general preservation district. Nurseries are allowed on preservation land but homes are not.
In requesting the variance, Alvarez said a caretaker is necessary to protect the property against vandalism and theft, said Donald Clegg, a consultant for Alvarez.
"We're asking for one simple thing, one limited thing, and that is to have a caretaker live there without constructing any new facility," Clegg said.
The Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board meeting is at 7 p.m. tomorrow at KEY Project, 47-200 Waihe'e Road.
Lee Allison, whose property is next to Alvarez's, said he and his neighbors oppose the variance.
"To me it looks like an industrial complex with a luxurious home for its owner, rather than a simple nursery for growing ornamental plants," said Allison, who took aerial photographs of the property at various stages of development.
Other homeowners said they are unhappy with an increase in traffic and that the operation is destroying the quiet at the end of a cul de sac that is surrounded by preservation land — land they thought couldn't be developed.
Halemanu is in a middle-class community of one- and two-story homes, underground utilities and well-tended yards.
Terence Miyahana, who has lived there since 1988 when the area was built, said he is concerned that Alvarez will seek other variances if this one is approved.
"Worse-case scenario is we're going to see a subdivision up there," he said.
He said people are living on the property now when they shouldn't.
Clegg acknowledged that people were living on the property illegally and that Alvarez was cited. However, he said, people can stay there now as long as there's no kitchen, so the kitchen was removed.
"It's not a dwelling unit until you have a kitchen," Clegg said.
Clegg said concerns by some residents about the nursery adding a chicken coop and dog houses are unfounded. People are confused when reading a building permit where the category of a building says "shed, dog house, barn," but its actual use is tool shed.
"The chicken coop is really a tool shed," he said.
Turning the property into a subdivision would take City Council approval, Clegg said. While that is possible, it is highly unlikely, he said.
The issue was discussed at a public hearing June 26 and the director of the city Department of Planning & Permitting has 60 days from that hearing to decide. Written testimony will be accepted up to 30 days after the hearing.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.
