Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 3, 1 March 2014 — Senate panels OK bill allowing residential units on 4 Kakaʻako Makai parcels [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Senate panels OK bill allowing residential units on 4 Kakaʻako Makai parcels

By Ka Wai Ola Staff Two state Senate eommittees approved a bill that would a 1 1 o w

I residential development on four of the 10 parcels in Kaka'ako Makai that the state transferred to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in 2012. The bill would lift a 2006 ban on residential development in Kaka'ako Makai on the following

parcels: • The AAFES building at the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Ward Avenue; • A lot on the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Forrest Avenue; and • Two adjoining lots - eommonly referred to as the Piano Lot -located next to the Children's Discovery Museum that are currently used as a parking lot. The committees also voted to allow buildings built on the two lots on Ala Moana Boulevard to go up to 400 feet tall. Structures are currently limited to 200 feet. In 2012, the state transferred the 10 Kaka'ako Makai parcels, valued at $200 million, to OHA to resolve the state's debt stemming from its failure to pay OHA its proper

share of puhlie land trust revenues between 1978 and 2012. OHA said that its iniīial planning clarifies that it cannot achieve the goal of developing its Kaka'ako Makai lands in a manner that is consistent with a $200 million settlement with the current land use restrictions. "As such, OHA is asking the Legislature to remove the residential-development restriction so that we ean reasonably halanee the interests of Native Hawaiians and the general puhlie to do something that will make us all proud," OHA said in its written testimony. OHA pledged not to build residential units on the Kewalo waterfront. Trustee Peter Apo said the agency is committed to pursuing a promenade along the waterfront. In testimony submitted to the Senate, OHA said:

"We are not seeking to do anything along the Kewalo waterfront that is not currently allowed. We do not intend to develop residential uses along

that waterfront." OHA told lawmakers it should be allowed to pursue sustainable growth while balancing eulture and commerce. "Both stewardship and cultural values will drive our design and use decisions. Our policy is to ensure that our activ-

ities in Kaka'ako Makai will halanee pono and eommerce and prioritize creating a Hawaiian sense of plaee," the testimony read. The bill advanced by the Senate committees would bar residential units on waterfront lots. Opponents testified the prohibition on residential development should continue, saying the land should be preserved. Native Hawaiian Homelani Schaedel told the committees her Hawaiians have a legacy of good stewardship of the land. She said trustees must "balanee the transformation of these lands respectfully and with cultural sensitivity to stand the test of time and elements as did our ancestors." The Senate version of the bill now heads to the Judiciary committee. ■

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G0VERNANCE To restore pono and ea, Native Hawaiians will achieve self-gover-nanee, after whieh the assets of OHAwillhe transferred to the new governing entity.

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Both stewardship and cultural values will drive our design and use decisions. Our policy is to ensure that our activities in Kakaako Makai will balance pono and commerce and prioritize creating a Hawaiian sense of plaee." — OHA in testimony submitted to lawmakers

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