Posted on: Sunday, August 1, 2004

Farmland decision cheered

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

HAWAI'I KAI — Wearing green ribbons tied to their thumbs, about 50 residents filled the Haha'ione Elementary School cafeteria to show their support for keeping Kamilonui Valley in farmland.

They cheered when the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board voted Tuesday night to support a City Council resolution backing the East Honolulu Sustainable Communities Plan, a blueprint for building in the community that designates the land as agricultural.

The measure had been heard earlier that day at the City Council Planning Committee, which made approval dependent on the community's vote. The resolution now moves to a full council vote Aug. 11 as part of a periodic city review of the plan.

Elizabeth Reilly, who has led a grass-roots community effort to keep the valley in farmland, turned in a petition with more than 1,500 signatures to the council and the neighborhood board.

Kamilonui Valley, home to about 15 farmers of vegetables and nursery plants, has become a battleground between residents who want the leased land to continue as farms and a developer who has offered to buy the farmers out so he can build 200 new homes.

"Kamilonui Valley is the last remaining agriculture land on the east end of O'ahu," Reilly said Tuesday night. "When it is gone, it is forever. It is part of the authentic character of our community. It is one of our distinguishing features, as is Koko Crater, our private marina and easy-access shoreline."

In the past five years, Hawai'i Kai has seen the construction of about 1,000 new homes, townhomes and apartments, and residents have urged lawmakers and the community to support keeping the valley in agriculture.

Stanford Carr, who proposes to build in Kamilonui Valley, could not be reached for comment.

However, Mike Jones, president of Schuler Homes Hawai'i, said new development has a place in any community.

With four housing projects in Hawai'i Kai recently completed or being built, Schuler Homes has heard its share of complaints from residents about traffic, Jones said.

But in the long run, new housing developments provide a steady customer base for existing businesses and attract new businesses to a community, he said.

"The more people, the more businesses are attracted to the area, and it keeps the businesses that are there healthy by ensuring that they have a strong customer base," Jones said.

The community's building plan is up for city review in a process done every five years. The city sets up meetings with key community members and will hold public meetings in the fall, said Manny Menendez, who represents the city at neighborhood board meetings and is a member of the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board.

Menendez suggested that the community consider establishing a land trust for the 84 acres in Kamilonui Valley so the farmers — many of whom are in their 70s — can be compensated and the community can keep the land free from development.

"We owe it to ourselves to keep the land in open space," he said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.