affordable housing development -- 973 people would not receive water meters and about 137 new residents that may not be on the water meter list would be able to "cut in line" in front of those now on the list.
reprinted courtesy Maui News 9/24/10
by Claudine San Nicolas, Staff Writer
KULA - Upcountry residents who grew up with dreams of homeownership pleaded Wednesday night for approval of the proposed Kula Ridge affordable housing development while others opposed it, expressing concern about the availability of water, road safety and the desecration of Native Hawaiian burials.
The pleas for and against Maui architect Clayton Nishikawa's Kula Ridge and Kula Ridge Mauka projects came during a Maui County Council Public Services Committee meeting that drew about 150 people to the Kula Community Center.
More than 25 of the nearly 60 people who testified were in support of the housing project. Many wore T-shirts with the project's emblem and held up signs pleading for approval.
"It's hard for me to find housing," said Joshua Rezentes, who identified himself as a fifth-generation Portuguese descendant who grew up in Kula with two goals in mind. He would get a good job - accomplished with employment at the state Department of Land and Natural Resources - and a home.
Rezentes said he's applied for two other affordable housing projects but is awaiting governmental approvals for those as well.
Another DLNR enforcement officer, John Yamamoto, said he was born and reared Upcountry and left the island to join the military. He's returned to Maui as a single parent and hoped he'd one day purchase a house for him and his children.
"Half of my classmates are on the Mainland because they can't afford homes here. I think it's time to bring them back," Yamamoto said.
Kula Ridge also received support from representatives from the Hawaii Carpenters Union who said as many as 79 percent of their members were without jobs and would like to see the project built.
"We're really suffering. We're really hurting," said Perry Artates, a union representative.
AARP Kula Chapter President Kathleen Phillips said members voted to endorse the project. They were interested in its senior housing, but they also hoped that young nurses, teachers and firefighters could buy homes in Kula Ridge.
Those opposing the project included neighbors Deborah Sawyer and Annie Masuda.
Masuda opposed allowing the Kula Ridge project to get water meters before hundreds of Upcountry residents already on a waiting list for meters.
Masuda said she has waited for eight years for a water meter, moving up from 100 to 50 on the list.
"I've waited long enough, let them wait too," she said of those seeking meters for Kula Ridge.
In opening remarks, committee Chairman Wayne Nishiki read from a prepared fact sheet that said that if council members were to approve Kula Ridge, instead of purchasing the private Piiholo South well, about 973 people would not receive water meters and about 137 new residents that may not be on the water meter list would be able to "cut in line" in front of those now on the list.
Nishikawa said he has an agreement with Piiholo South to contribute $2 million toward the private well development, which according to Nishikawa, would allow the county to draw from the well and address those waiting on its meter waiting list.
In testimony, Piiholo South well developer Zachary Franks confirmed an agreement with Nishikawa but said the county stands to gain 1,066 meters out of the potential 1,296 that could be drawn from the well. About 200 of the meters would go to Kula Ridge and another 30 to Piiholo South, according to the agreement terms between the two private firms.
Franks told council members that he believed that Nishikawa's project should be judged on its merits alone. The water issue is a separate matter, he said.
Nishikawa said he needed to prove he had a water source to get approval for Kula Ridge, and he sought to do that through his agreement with Piiholo South.
The council adopted a resolution on Aug. 6, urging the county administration to acquire the Piiholo South well, which has been tested to produce 1.7 million gallons per day of water pure enough to drink without further treatment.
Nishikawa said that if he had not negotiated a water source agreement with Piiholo South, the county would not have a water source to tap, potentially. "We're trying to be a part of the solution," he said.
"It's a win-win situation for us and the people on the water meter list."
Masuda said she's also concerned about safety on Lower Kula Road, which gets congested when large events sponsored by the nearby Holy Ghost Church or Haleakala Waldorf School take place.
"This is the center of the the Kula community," she said, expressing grave concern that people might get hurt on the road, which has no sidewalks.
Sawyer, who has lived in Kula for 20 years, said there's already a lot of traffic from activity at the church, Cafe 808, Morihara Store and the school, all on Lower Kula Road.
She said a new development such as Kula Ridge would change the overall rural atmosphere she and her neighbors enjoy. "I don't think it would fit into our neighborhood," Sawyer said.
Nishikawa said he has agreed to address road improvements as best he can, including sidewalk construction.
Dana Naone Hall, a former Maui/Lanai Burial Council chairwoman, testified that at least one burial was found onsite that was not mentioned in Kula Ridge's latest application. Hall said the Native Hawaiian burial was located "smack" in the middle of Kula Ridge's proposed senior housing units.
In response, Nishikawa said: "Essentially, there are no Native Hawaiian burials discovered to date." Nishikawa agreed last week to another site visit by state archaeologists to re-evaluate the area.
Wednesday night's meeting was scheduled after committee members reviewed the project Sept. 15 in Council Chambers in Wailuku. Nishiki scheduled Wednesday's session to get input from neighbors of the 48-acre parcel, which is located above Holy Ghost Church and the Kula Community Center. The adjacent Kula Ridge Mauka project has 20 agricultural lots on 272 acres.
Nishikawa's first application for approval of the project, being processed under the state's fast-track affordable housing law, was rejected by council members two years ago. The current application, also being done under Hawaii Revised Statutes 201H-38, calls for building a 116-lot development and addresses concerns raised when the earlier proposal was rejected, according to Nishikawa.
Those objections included the project being too dense, not having an adequate water supply, and having narrow streets and fewer sidewalks than normally would be required. The fast-track state housing law allows a developer to bypass most state and county land-use requirements by promising to build affordable homes.
The affordable homes would include 34 senior duplexes and 25 three-bedroom, single-family homes, all priced between $210,000 and $478,000, according to Nishikawa. Fifty-nine of the 70 affordable homes would be in the Kula Ridge subdivision, and the other 11 would be located on the agricultural lots. Market-priced homes would be on lots as large as 20,000 square feet.
The council's Public Services Committee will reconvene at 9 a.m. Wednesday on the application. Council members have a deadline in which to take action - 45 days from the date when preliminary plans were presented to them. Council members can reject the application or approve it with conditions. No action would lead to automatic approval.
* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
reprinted courtesy Maui News 9/24/10, original link www mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/540871.html
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