The Fight to Stop HoKua Place Isn't Over
The fight to stop HoKua Place in Kapaʻa Town isn’t over yet. As the contested case hearing continues, the LUC commission is still in the process of hearing witnesses provided by the developers.
The hearings will proceed on the following dates:
April 15, April 29, May 13, and May 27
(The LUC will schedule additional hearings as needed in June)
Background
HoKua Place is a housing development on the east side of Kauaʻi that residents have opposed since 2005. HG Kauaʻi Joint Venture plans to build a 769-unit subdivision along the Kapaʻa Bypass Road. With homes being sold up to $950k, most residents are unable to afford living there. Building more expensive housing for offshore buyers is the last thing we need amidst Hawaiʻi's housing crisis.
LUC Hearing Highlights
The developers' witnesses have clarified that they actually don’t have the drinking water needed for HoKua Place.
HoKua Place developers have confirmed that existing plans for the development are not the same as the plans initially submitted to the LUC for environmental review. Recent reports show that their proposal to redesignate these lands were never included in the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) report, nor were they vetted by the public.
While the EIS draft presented to the public included a 2-page drainage report, the current drainage report is now 118 pages long, vastly different in context, and written by a different company can be seen in the EIS draft presented to the public, which included a 2-page drainage report conducted by a different consulting company. Despite knowing it was needed, the contractor was told by the development company’s lawyer that they were too far along in the process to do a supplemental EIS. This is not how the NEPA EIS process is supposed to work.
The current plan says retention basins will be used for the storage of water, but the EIS talks about using natural topography and not using these basins. The new drainage report also suggests that a sheet flow of excess water will cross over the Kapaʻa bypass road, but this wasn't included in previous assessments.
“What plan are we being asked to approve?”
-LUC Commisioner Gary Okuda during the HoKua Place Hearing
While the developer initially said they would help with funding upgrades for the Lydgate wastewater facility, they revealed in the hearing that they will only provide $400,000 out of the $18 million needed to restore the facility to the previous 1.5 million capacity. However, to accommodate HoKua Place the system would actually need to be upgraded to at least a 2 million gallon a day system. The actual upgrade costs would therefore be much more, possibly approaching $40 million.
One of the developers' witnesses admitted in their testimony that these houses are not being built for the Kapaʻa workforce, as the average Kapaʻa employee makes about $15/hr and this will not be within their price range. This enforces what we already know: this development is not being built as worker housing for the employees working in Kapaʻa. This is a stark contrast to their initial claims that the developmentʻs central location would allow residents to walk and bike to work. HoKua Place is yet another expensive development made for wealthy, foreign interests.
What can you do?
1) Submit Testimony
Testify and encourage others to submit testimony opposing the land use designation change prior to the deliberation of the commission by emailing dbedt.luc.web@hawaii.gov with the subject: HoKua Place, LUC Docket No. A11-791/HG before the May 27th hearing.
Also, due to strong public opposition and the large volume of testimonies provided, the LUC Chair has provided the rare opportunity to submit additional public testimony after all parties have concluded their case and prior to the LUC’s final decision. Please email stophokuaplace@gmail.com to be notified of this opportunity to virtually testify or keep an eye out for HAPA action alerts.
2) Donate to Support Legal Funds
With the hearing being extended well beyond expected the Stop HoKua Place team is quickly running out of funds to pay for the contested case legal team. If you are able to donate to support these efforts, please do!
Please financially support the efforts to keep this land designated as Agriculture and not Urban as we participate in the contested case legal proceedings against the HoKua Place development.
Click here to donate to the Kauai Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Or Make a check out directly to the Sierra Club Kauaʻi Group of the Hawaiʻi Chapter and send to: Sierra Club Kauaʻi Group, P.O. Box 3412, Lihue, HI 96766.
Please note that your donation is to go to the “Stop HoKua Place legal fund.”
3) Stay Tuned for More Updates
Stay updated on future hearings/proceedings by following us on our social media channels: @hiprogressiveaction on IG and FB and @hawaiiaction on Twitter. Links to the future hearing zoom meetings will be available at least a week before the hearing via communitycoalitionkauai.org.
You can also email stophokuaplace@gmail.com to get the link e-mailed to you in the week before the scheduled hearing date. You can register right up to the day of the hearing to listen to the proceedings.
