Yesterday the state reaffirmed its interest in preserving this last stretch of undeveloped coastline in East O'ahu, except for the construction of the two parking lots, said Dan Quinn, state Department of Land and Natural Resources parks administrator. Not even a restroom will be built.

The next required step is City Council approval of the permit, after a hearing before the council's zoning committee. A hearing probably won't be held until April.

"We need to make sure we're not covering up too much area with concrete," said Eve Anderson, a member of the Ka Iwi Action Council, a group of concerned citizens who have been watching over the area since the state acquired it from Kamehameha Schools. "I hope that we leave this area completely open and natural for everyone to experience it in its natural state."

City Department of Planning and Permitting staff planner Jamie Peirson said the city's conditions for approval will bar the state from allowing commercial activities at the lot. The city made the same requirement when it approved the plans before, Peirson said. Any subsequent improvements along the Ka Iwi shoreline area would require another city permit and public hearings before approval.

The state wants to build two parking lots, one near the triangle pullout of the Makapu'u lookout. The state plans to build a parking lot with 19 stalls and two places for vans to load and unload, Quinn said. The second parking lot would be near the trail head to the Makapu'u lighthouse, a popular hiking destination and whale-watching scenic lookout. The second lot would have 20 spaces and an area for buses to turn around. The parking lots would be landscaped with native plants, Quinn said.

Utility lines will be buried to clear the vista from a tangle of overhead wires.

"We've had a lot of discussion on this project that there is to be no development of any kind in the future on this site," said David Matthews, a founding member of the Ka Iwi Action Council. "We don't want any buildings or anything else built in this area. It's to remain open."

The work is outlined in the Ka Iwi plan, adopted in 1996. It started to move forward four years ago after the city purchased the Ka Iwi shoreline from Kamehameha Schools.

The work is part of a $5 million federal transportation grant to assist in the purchase. The federal government required that the state make the scenic lookout by Makapu'u safer for visitors and clear the view by burying the utility lines.