Kane'ohe cool on town center

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KANE'OHE — An effort to identify a town center for Kane'ohe has this Windward community thinking it might be better off seeking ways to link the various parts of the town or perhaps creating a new town center on the waterfront.

A proposal to put a town center on Kane'ohe Bay is meeting with strong resistance. Some say that a waterfront center would be problematic, while others say transportation in Kane'ohe is a bigger problem and should be focused on first. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

A proposal to put a town center on Kane'ohe Bay is generating strong opinions, and residents are urged to attend a meeting Saturday to make their voices heard.

Kane'ohe is a town of multiple centers, tremendous assets, dramatic views of the Ko'olaus and these should be enhanced, said Eric Crispin, director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, adding that the town should consider developing an oceanfront center, perhaps at Bay View Golf Park.

"Here you have one of the most incredible bays in the entire Pacific, if not in the whole world, and yet the town essentially turns its back on the water," he said.

Some of Kane'ohe's leaders don't like the waterfront idea but praised consultant Belt Collins Hawai'i for other aspects of the Kane'ohe Town Plan, including the idea of enhancing streams in Kane'ohe and making them pathways to destinations in the community.

The Kane'ohe Town Plan project is part of the city Vision Team process. A community group made up of various stakeholders has met with the consultants regularly for more than a year.

Kane'ohe was developed along Kamehameha Highway, which was once the only road through town. Businesses were strung out along the highway in one- and two-story buildings for the most part and malls were developed at both ends of town, forcing shoppers to use their automobiles.

"This project intends to identify some of the central points or gathering places and how to group them in a network of pedestrian paths, bike paths, green belts, greenways and create a cohesive whole," Crispin said.

He said the waterfront center could be a long-term project while other areas in the community are improved.

A waterfront center, no matter how carefully developed, would eventually intrude on the natural beauty, historical sites and cultural aspects of the bay, said Sandy Oguma, president of the Kane'ohe Business Group.

It also wouldn't work as a town center because it's off the beaten path, she said, adding that people need to come to the meeting to let their opinions be known.

"The plans are still loose, but we seem to be moving toward this ocean shoreline proposal," she said.

Janis Chun, a member of the planning committee, said the consultant has identified transportation throughout Kane'ohe as the No. 1 problem and any future projects should focus on solving that. Chun said connecting locations was more important than identifying one town center.

Most of the people she said she talked to can't agree on one town center "but they all agree that a waterfront center would add more problems, not to mention cost plenty of money."

Herb Lee, a Kane'ohe businessman who is heading the restoration of the Waikalua Loko Fish Pond in Kane'ohe Bay, said he also doesn't like the idea because, among other things, it would involve condemning property.

But other good ideas have come from the consultants and people should make an effort to be at the meeting and give their opinions, Lee said.

"I'd like to see more community involvement in the process," he said. "The more involvement the better the outcome will be."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at 234-5266 or eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.