Posted at 1:37 p.m., Thursday, April 12, 2007
Site options debated for Maui fire station
By ILIMA LOOMIS
The Maui News
Fire officials said they looked at four properties in Haiku for the station and continue to believe the nearly 28-acre parcel proposed for purchase last year is the best site. Tavares said she'd like to see the remaining land used for an agricultural park or open space, but that the county would get community input before deciding what to do.
"We are focusing on a fire station," she told The Maui News. "A civic center is not on the table at all."
The county last year budgeted $3.2 million to buy the property for the Haiku Fire Station, but the project sparked controversy when then-Mayor Alan Arakawa said he wanted to build a civic complex, including a police station, ambulance station and baseyard on the remaining portion of the land.
Haiku residents were divided over the plan in what became a rancorous community debate. Nearly the entire board of the Haiku Community Association eventually resigned in a dispute over the group's position on the project.
Now Tavares is requesting an additional $500,000 in 2007-08 for design of a fire station. The Maui County Council is currently reviewing Tavares' budget proposals.
Tuesday's meeting at Haiku Elementary School was peaceful compared to the sometimes heated discussions of the project that broke out last year.
Some residents who previously opposed the civic center continued to be skeptical, including attorney Isaac Hall, who lives near the proposed site. He wanted the county to legally commit to developing an agricultural park before buying the land.
"I'd rather not tempt everyone with all this acreage, unless there's a commitment to stay in agriculture from the beginning," he said. "If we're talking about a bunch of add-ons, I'm not for it."
He said he also felt the Fire Department was too hasty in making its recommendation and should have gathered more community input.
"Aren't we here to discuss which would be the best site?" he said. "I'd like it to be an open question."
But fellow Haiku resident Rich Lucas disagreed.
"Actually, I'm getting a little tired of this remaining an open question," he said, drawing applause from the crowd. "I think it's time we move forward and do it."
He added that he trusted the Fire Department's expertise in selecting the site, and said the additional acreage should be seen not as a disadvantage but as "an opportunity."
Fire Chief Carl Kaupalolo said his department looked at four properties for the station. The site the county proposes to purchase is a 27.9-acre parcel at the corner of Hana Highway and East Kuiaha Road, owned by Cecelia Vessel and offered for $3.2 million. Other sites reviewed by the department were:
All four properties are zoned for agricultural use.
Kaupalolo said the department continued to believe the Vessel property was the top choice because its location would allow good response times to critical areas, offer easy road access and good visibility for drivers, and overlap efficiently with the coverage of the Makawao and Paia fire stations.
The other three properties ranked lower in criteria for location, convenience for fire operations, and available infrastructure, he added.
Kaupalolo said the Fire Department would want to use 3 to 5 acres of the property for the station, which would provide enough room for future expansion and space for the rescue helicopter landing pad.
The landing zone would not be a base for the helicopter, but would be a safe place where the chopper could bring victims rescued from the mountains or ocean to meet an ambulance, he said.
"The only time we would use it would be for an actual emergency," he said.
The helicopter was one of Hall's concerns, who said noise could be an issue.
"I live near there, and I don't want helicopters starting to fly in and out," he said.
Haiku resident Jeffrey Parker said he'd be open to Tavares' proposal of an agricultural park for the site, but that he didn't want the project to move forward until the county made a "guarantee" that's how the land would be used.
"I'm also not comfortable with the idea of buying the 27 acres," he said.
Tavares said that since the funds approved for the purchase would expire in December, the county was in a "time crunch" to move forward with the project and might not be able to approve plans for an ag park first.
But she said buying the entire property was still preferable to buying only what was needed for the fire station, since a private owner could always develop the remainder into an agricultural subdivision.
Since the land is zoned for agriculture, Tavares said she was personally committed to leaving it undeveloped or used for farming.
"I want to see open space," she said.
For more Maui news, visit The Maui News.
