Posted on: Thursday, October 9, 2003
Makakilo folks vent frustrations
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
A standing-room-only crowd of about 350 exasperated Makakilo residents crammed into the Makakilo Recreation Center last night to vent concerns over rapid development in Kapolei.
The meeting brought about the revitalization of the Makakilo Community Association, which was virtually given up for dead a year ago. Energized by their mutual frustration with the tremendous growth in the area in recent years, a throng of folks showed up to speak their minds.
By 6:40 p.m., with about five dozen people on hand, association president Roy Wickramaratna was calling it the biggest crowd he had seen at an association meeting during his 23 years as a member. By the time the meeting started 20 minutes later, all 200 seats were taken, extra chairs and benches had been hastily brought in, and people were spilling out the doors.
In greeting the assembly, Wickramaratna compared the moment to a dormant volcano that had suddenly erupted. The facilitator for the meeting, Kioni Dudley, invited members of the audience to step up to the microphone.
And sound off they did.
In what amounted to a cathartic outpouring, speaker after speaker stood up to say Makakilo is being held hostage by what one resident called "a pattern of uncontrolled growth and a lack of city planning to deal with it."
They spoke of developers gone wild and government officials who either ignore residents' concerns or make excuses about why nothing can be done. They said roads are inadequate, schools are too crowded, Makakilo Drive has become a dangerous mess, Kapolei has reached gridlock, and an explosion of hundreds of new homes in the area is straining an overtaxed sewer system.
"The city and state are seemingly powerless either to speed up infrastructure or to slow down construction," read a leaflet handed out to those in attendance. But by that time no one needed convincing.
"Stop this rapid mass development!" blurted Genara Buza Campos to rousing applause and cheers from those present.
She asked why so many homes and businesses are being built in Kapolei when folks in Makakilo are being asked to conserve water.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!," she yelled angrily. "No more development until our water needs are met!"
Nani Bacon was one of many who called for a moratorium on all construction until the infrastructure to accommodate new buildings is in place.
"We have one way in and out of Makakilo — Makakilo Drive," she said. "If anything happened, we wouldn't have a way out. ...
"It is time for the city and county to listen to us, the homeowners, and not the developers."
Longtime Makakilo resident John Ridings said City Hall has not responded to his calls about the problems.
"Why would anybody put a shopping center between two major roads with limited access coming in and out?" he said, referring to Kapolei, which sits between H-1 Freeway and Farrington Highway.
Ridings said there is only one lane leading from the entire community of Makakilo to the Honolulu bound H-1 Freeway. When Makakilo motorists want to get to Farrington Highway when they're headed in the Wai'anae direction, they must drive through the heart of Kapolei — and that's usually bumper-to-bumper traffic during rush hour.
Several state and city officials in attendance listened intently to the parade of more than three dozen speakers and promised to work with the community to resolve the problems.
City Council member Nestor Garcia said he couldn't fault the community for being upset.
"This is something they have to live with — whether it's traffic, pot holes or adequate police protection," he said. "I'm here to listen and I'll try and zero in on whatever concerns I have authority over."
The meeting ended with the forming of an association committee to write up a letter outlining the various concerns, and with Dudley asking for a show of hands in favor of a moratorium on development in the area.
"It looked like it was unanimous," he said. "We're going to move forward from here."
