Trees 'agreeable' to Waialae golf club, residents

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

After four years of wrangling between the Waialae Country Club and nearby residents, a City Council committee has arrived at a solution that gives the club permission to plant coconut trees to hold up safety netting around its driving range but addresses residents' concerns about the view plane.

Pending approval by the full City Council on Wednesday, the country club will be allowed to proceed with the $184,000 project once the necessary permits are obtained. The work is expected to take about nine months.

However, if the trees don't survive, the country club cannot replace them with steel or wooden poles without applying for new permits, according to a resolution before the council.

And if the country club ever resurrects its plan to build a vehicle path behind the homes and a maintenance gate to Waiholo Street, it would have to modify its permits.

"We're agreeable," said Cedric Choi, past president, speaking on behalf of the Waialae Country Club. "The proposal has been thoroughly examined by the committee and the staff and both sides have gotten their say. We feel we've made accommodations and we're agreeable with them."

The community had asked for a statement in writing to be drafted by the country club promising to never install wooden or steel poles in place of the coconut trees, but the country club had refused. The resolution calls for the country club to submit a letter agreeing to this before it can move forward, Choi said.

"I think it's a good compromise," said City Councilman Charles Djou, chairman of the council's zoning committee. "I don't like the idea of poles, wooden or steel, and the community certainly does not. This accommodates everyone and is certainly something we can all live with."

The city had been ready to approve the country club's plans four years ago, but residents voiced their objections in several public hearings. That initial plan called for 60-foot poles to support a net around the club's driving range, a cart path behind the homes fronting the golf course, a maintenance gate off Waiholo Street and a cart path on the ocean side of the course.

Now, with the cart path proposal dropped and the plan to use coconut trees instead of poles in place, both sides are ready to move forward — cautiously.

"I just don't trust the country club because of past experiences," said Ira Helfer, who lives near the golf course. "But the letter means they will have to do another environmental study" before poles could be used. "This is the best settlement we can get right now."

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