PUHI — Draft plans, shelved plans and codified plans tug at the urban heart of Kaua‘i — leaving some veins overpumped, some arteries underfed and its overall direction unclear. A diverse group of community leaders wants to weave the pieces
PUHI — Draft plans, shelved plans and codified plans tug at the urban heart of Kaua‘i — leaving some veins overpumped, some arteries underfed and its overall direction unclear.
A diverse group of community leaders wants to weave the pieces together to form a comprehensive plan that steers the design and future development of Lihu‘e and creates a model town.
The Lihu‘e Business Association’s Lihu‘e Tomorrow Committee identified areas to explore over upcoming months at its inaugural meeting yesterday morning at Grove Farm’s Puhi office.
The committee will put form and function to the programs that the association has fostered over the past two years concerning the various aspects of life in this growing and evolving district, Lihu‘e Business Association President Pat Griffin said.
“If Lihu‘e were suddenly not there, the island would be in chaos,” she said.
The town can be more than necessary, it can be visionary, she said.
Neil Clendeninn, a local physician and architect who facilitated the meeting, said he is saddened that most residents and visitors consider Lihu‘e a stop en route to another location on the island.
“This is the last place people want to go,” said Princeville resident Barbara Curl, who started the nonprofit Kaua‘i Aloha Foundation. “What if it was the destination?”
The Lihu‘e district, which stretches north to Wailua River and south to Tree Tunnel Road, provides a home to the island’s primary airport and harbor, major government and health care offices, and a broad cross section of neighborhoods and small businesses.
“It’s such a beautiful place, but we’re just going hither, thither and yon,” retired architect and former county Planning Commissioner Larry Chaffin said.
The county currently operates under a Lihu‘e district development plan that was partially codified in 1977, Clendeninn said, adding that there is a related design plan that officials never adopted.
Development plans state what the town should be, he said. Design plans say what it should look like.
The group agreed from the outset that public input will be a key thread in stitching together a comprehensive plan.
A citizens advisory committee that would bring government to the community is an example of what has not been implemented from the 1977 plan, Clendeninn said, but acknowledged the mayor’s Ka Leo O Kaua‘i outreach program.
The County Council has criticized how the county Planning Department has handled a still incomplete Lihu‘e development plan.
Councilman Tim Bynum reiterated his colleague’s concerns, pointing at an overly narrow scope and a perceived conflict of interest with the consultant.
When the council in 2003 approved $250,000 in funding for the plan, council members said it was to encompass the entire district.
Instead, Honolulu-based PBR Hawaii has been working on a Lihu‘e town core urban design plan for the past few years. The fringe areas within the district will be supplemented with two private developers’ plans.
County Planning Director Ian Costa told the council during budget hearings this month that the Grove Farm and Amfac master plans, which focus on lands west of Puhi Road and in the Hanama‘ulu triangle, would be used in conjunction with the town core plan.
Bynum said the conflict of interest concern is that PBR Hawaii associate Kimi Yuen was contracted to do the plan for the county and the plan for Grove Farm, one of the largest landowners and most important companies on Kaua‘i.
He said there is nothing that cannot be dealt with through dialogue, but felt it important to raise the concerns at the committee’s meeting.
Yuen said she is working to bring the sides together to create a plan for a showcase Lihu‘e that is liveable, walkable and workable.
An updated draft of the town core plan will be available to the public after the Planning Department reviews it, she said.
Grove Farm’s Neil Tagawa attended the meeting, but did not comment on the potential conflict of interest related to the consultant.
The committee identified two other plans that will be thrown in the mix with the 1977 county plan, the shelved design plan, a civic center plan, the two developers’ master plans and the town core plan.
An environmental assessment is in the works for the Lihu‘e portion of the county’s multi-use path project.
Bynum said this should be considered in the process of creating a comprehensive plan for the district.
Also, Griffin said the American Institute of Architects Sustainable Design Assessment Team will be coming to Lihu‘e in November.
The program brings together multidisciplinary teams of professionals from across the country to provide a road map for communities seeking to improve their sustainability as defined by a community’s ability to meet the needs of today without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their needs, according to www.aia.org.
The Lihu‘e Tomorrow Committee meets at 7:30 a.m. on the first and third Thursday of the month. Place is to be determined. Annual membership is $25 per person.
For more information, call Griffin at 639-1019 or e-mail lba96766@yahoo.com
