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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 11:41 a.m., Monday, November 5, 2007

Laau Point final environmental impact statement filed

Advertiser Staff

Moloka'i Ranch has filed a final version of an environmental impact statement for its proposed development of luxury home lots on Moloka'i at La'au Point.

The final EIS contains more than 3,000 pages of information, including comments from about 130 organizations and individuals as well as responses to those comments by Moloka'i Ranch.

The company, an affiliate of Molokai Properties Ltd., has said it would use the comments to refine its plan where possible.

The final EIS document is an amended version of a draft filed in December 2006 that seeks to reclassify land at La'au Point from agricultural use to rural use — a change necessary for Moloka'i Ranch to subdivide the property into 200 1-acre residential lots.

The state Land Use Commission has tentatively scheduled a hearing for Nov. 15 and 16 on Moloka'i to determine whether the document is complete.

If the final EIS is deemed complete, there would be a future public hearing by the LUC to decide whether to reclassify the land use.

County zoning changes also would be necessary for the developer to move ahead with the controversial plan that has divided Moloka'i's community.

Some residents say the project will encroach on traditional fishing grounds, and change the island's way of life by attracting more outside investors and raising land values, making homes less affordable to longtime residents.

Others support the plan because of project tradeoffs that include reopening the Kaluakoi Hotel and preserving 50,000 acres of Moloka'i Ranch land by giving the land or perpetual restrictive easements on the land to a community trust.