A controversial gondola proposal has done something projects have failed to do in Hawai‘i. It's brought various facets of the community together on one side – even if that side opposes the project.
The Kamananui Agribusiness project wants to attract daily visitors for sightseeing and cultural education on the slopes of Mount Ka‘ala. The property was bought from the Dole Pineapple Company in 2017 and is now managed by Kaukonahua Ranch LLC, which received a conditional use permit in 2019.
The opposition is overwhelming. The Army points to safety issues because of its military exercises, environmentalists worry about the impacts on native forests and species, and residents say there wasn't enough public input.
Racquel Achiu, vice chair of the North Shore Neighborhood Board, said the solidarity speaks to issues residents face statewide, such as the rising cost of living and the loss of agricultural land.
“We always have a very strong sense of backyard banter,” she said.
The push against the project started as a grassroots effort by members of the North Shore Neighborhood Board. This year, they met with more than half a dozen neighborhood boards in town, Central O‘ahu, and the Windward and Leeward sides.
Achiu said it was important for the board to especially reach out to the Waiʻanae and Nānākuli neighborhood boards because they’re on the other side of the tallest mountain on O‘ahu. She underscored that the issue could happen to their community as well.
“I stand very firmly that this mountain, although it physically divides the West and the North, it very much connects us,” she said.
Last week, the Honolulu City Council unanimously voted to approve a resolution that urges the Department of Planning and Permitting to revoke the property owner’s permit. It’s a formal request, but the permitting department doesn’t need to follow it.
Most development projects are heard before the city council. Depending on the case, such as fierce opposition from the community, those projects are sometimes dead upon arrival.
Councilmember Matt Weyer, who represents the North Shore area, said the community feels distrust over the process and didn’t feel there was enough opportunity for public input.
“Under the land use ordinance, that's supposed to be the primary use is agriculture, and then the accessory use can support that,” he said. “I think as the conversation has gone on, it's become clearer and clearer that the primary purpose of this whole design is really to increase tourism and serve visitors.”
Weyer said the city council is considering a measure that would add agritourism to the list of activities on agricultural land that would require a presentation before the neighborhood board.
“By adjusting the land use ordinance to give an opportunity for the community to weigh in at the very beginning on these types of agritourism projects, would mean the DPP has more information to be used to make their evaluation and make their determination,” Weyer said.
Contentious projects like the Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea and the Kahuku Wind Farm have shown clear division among stakeholders.
Experts on dispute resolution say that this project stands out because it turned unlikely groups into allies.
Peter Adler is a specialist in conflict management and conflict resolution. He said it's rare to see people on the same page when it comes to controversial projects.
“It strikes me just prima facie, this is really all about the values, and I know the community on the North Shore is organized,” he said.
Eight neighborhood boards have testified against the project.
But Adler said the situation could be fluid. The city's Department of Planning and Permitting will decide whether or not to approve the ranch's permit. In another case, the ranch might withdraw or come back with another development proposal, Adler added.
“You never quite know what we’re looking at in a moment in time,” he said. “Controversies like this have a funny ability to persist, and sometimes they just die,”
The ranch testified in opposition to the resolution, saying it wished the council had reached out for clarification on the project. HPR has reached out for an interview, but general management was unavailable for comment.
“We will continue to work closely with the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting to ensure they are satisfied with how the scale and scope of our project is being reduced,” General Manager Mark “Skip” Taylor said in a written statement on Nov. 5.
“We look forward to providing more information to the Honolulu City Council about the agricultural improvements already made and sharing more about how we will continue preserving more than 2,300 acres of the Kaukonahua, and provide the public with unprecedented access to the Ranch for the first time in its history.”
DPP said it will make a decision on the ranch’s permit by the end of this month.
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