"I'm tired of restrictions for our people of where we can't go," said Council Chairman Riki Hokama during the continuing review of the Honua'ula project district zoning request that has now stretched over two and a half weeks.

Honua'ula representative Charlie Jencks said the development group is willing to amend proposed conditions for the private course. But he also noted that the Wailea 670 project district already has been scaled back from two golf courses to a single course and in density from 2,600 units to 1,400 proposed housing units onsite.

The private golf course is planned as a key amenity for the development that will include construction of 700 affordable housing units, in line with standards of the county's Workforce Residential Housing Policy.

Jencks said the golf course will be part of the marketing package, providing a higher value on the properties and allow the developers to recover the costs of the affordable housing and other infrastructure requirements.

"I have an amenity the market-rate buyer chooses to purchase," he said.

On the sixth day of the review that began July 25, committee members were adamant that they did not want a fully private golf course that would shut out other residents.

Hokama suggested the course either be opened to public play or the Honua'ula development group build the course and turn it over to the county to operate as a public course.

Council Member Michelle Anderson said a Honua'ula golf course not only should be open to public play but, as is the case with other Maui golf courses, it should give discounts on greens fees for Maui residents. Anderson said she "cannot support this condition" that accepts a private course for play by Honua'ula residents and guests.

Yesterday's focus was on a condition for the Honua'ula golf course to provide for play by nonprofit organizations and to support the Junior Golf Program. The proposed condition replaces one that had been imposed on the original Wailea 670 project district that had two courses, one private and one open to public play. The Wailea 670 condition dealt with provisions for tee times and fees for Hawai'i residents on the public course.

Council Member Joe Pontanilla suggested that Honua'ula, like the private Maui Country Club, could designate a special day for public play.

There was no decision by the committee on conditions on the golf course after three hours of discussions, with Land Use Chairman Mike Molina recessing the session to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Committee members also debated yesterday on a condition for Honua'ula to donate $5 million to the county for development of the South Maui Community Park.

The $5 million donation would be separate from requirements on the residential project to provide parks facilities and also stemmed from a condition that had been imposed on the original Wailea 670 project district.

The original Wailea 670 project had agreed to participate in construction and dedication of a Little League field as part of a South Maui regional park plan. When the project district zoning was initially approved 10 years ago, the estimated cost of the improvement had been $3.5 million.

Deputy Planning Director Colleen Suyama said the condition was imposed on Phase I approval of the original Wailea 670 project district.

"This is something already owed to the county," Hokama noted, while suggesting the donation should already be in the county's parks fund.

Parks capital improvements coordinator Pat Matsui said a $5 million donation would help with first phase development of the South Maui Community Park, which currently is in the design phase. The costs of initial site work, including grading of a 40-acre site along Pi'ilani Highway, infrastructure improvements and soccer and softball fields are estimated at $13 million. Currently, $4.8 million has been allocated in the county's CIP budget, which is not enough to start building ball fields, Matsui said.

"The $4.8 (million) is too little. With $5 million, it would bring us to $9.8 million. We are confident we can build something to show for it," he said.

Council Member Jo Anne Johnson questioned whether even $5 million was adequate, suggesting that inflation since the original agreement was made would require an even larger amount to match the cost of a Little League field and land in 1995.

After the meeting, Jencks said the $5 million offered "is good value" for construction and land, and welcomed the council to look further into the value of the original proposal. He said the Honua'ula group is willing to assist the county in building the community park.

The developers would be willing to advance its donation to pay the county the $5 million once the development had received its Phase I approval, he said – if there are no appeals of the zoning approvals that further delay the development plans.