Once again, we have the opportunity to stop Hokua Place, the proposed development on 93 acres behind Kapaa Middle School with 769 dwellings.
Hokua Place has submitted a petition to the State Land Use Commission (LUC) to change the zoning from agriculture to urban. The developer has also submitted a Final Environment Impact Statement (FEIS) that must be approved by the LUC, who will come to Kauai to hold a pubic hearing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at the Sheraton Coconut Beach Resort in Kapaa (behind Longs). Fifteen copies of your testimony must be handed in before speaking. Testimony can also be emailed at least 48 hours before the hearing to dbedt.luc.web@hawaii.gov
The rules for testimony are very strict. Public testimony must address specific points in the FEIS, e.g. traffic. It isn’t enough to say “Hokua Place will create even more crippling traffic in Kapaa, which has diminished our quality of life here.” You must provide a specific example from the FEIS to show how the traffic study is flawed, outdated, etc.
Since the FEIS is 150 pages long, I will spare you the time reading it. This will give you the information on what and where I found a discrepancy or error in the document, which must be clearly referenced in your testimony.
Housing
Looking at the chart, you can see that 231 multiplex dwellings will be affordable, which is 30% of total 769 dwellings, as mandated by county law for affordable housing. The highest priced dwellings are single houses on a lot, which can be purchased for: $650,0000 to $1,250,000.
The largest number of dwellings, 452, are multi-family dwellings/condos, priced from 250,000-$350,000.This is where we have to look more closely. I have confirmed that there will be monthly maintenance fees for these condos just as there are for all condos on Kauai. The lack of transparency regarding monthly maintenance fees is a serious omission in the DEIS, because monthly fees make the Hokua Place multi-family condos much more expensive than listed. It is also common for maintenance fees to go up over the years as buildings age. The going rates for condo fees on Kauai are $700 to $1,200/month. That’s a big chunk of money to overlook in the FEIS.
The chart describes “POTENTIAL PRICING” of the units in the development. Potential prices are noted in “2015 US Dollars” and “Final Pricing is “subject to market conditions.” When people look at the chart to see the listed prices, they need full disclosure to know if they can afford it. The above chart is inadequate and misleading.
Transportation/traffic
Picture another 1,300 vehicles pouring onto the bypass and Kuhio Highway in downtown Kapaa. Frightening? Unbridled gridlock traffic may be the most worrisome impact for both residents and visitors. There is good reason for that, given the prolific traffic jams now crawling along from north Kapaa to the Wailua River and back. Traffic madness can be anytime, not just during commuter hours.
Access or egress to and from Phase 1 of Hokua Place will be via driveways along south Olohena Road. Access to/from Phase 2 will be provided by an intersection at Kapaa Bypass Road. The two intersections will be connected by a roadway, running through the property, referred to as Road A, which the developer hopes will mitigate the project’s traffic at the roundabout.
Outdated traffic analysis
The State Department of Transportation did studies in 2015 and March 13, 2017. The traffic has exponentially increased since these outdated studies were performed and the developer’s foresight appears to be blinded to that reality as he comments on impacts of the development: “The Hokua Place access intersections at Olohena Road and the Bypass Road are expected to operate at satisfactory levels of service during the AM and PM peak hours of traffic.”
Right now, Olohena Road with two lanes, is jammed with school buses and parents dropping off kids and will worsen with several driveways and Road A pouring onto it. “The existing traffic congestion on Kuhio Highway through Kapaa Town can be mitigated by restricting on-street parking and re-striping the shoulder lanes to provide additional through lanes.”
Other such foolishness is expressed when they say it’s a 10-minute walk to Kuhio Highway in Kapaa Town along the bypass road. (dangerous without sidewalks and more like a 30-minute walk).
Additionally, the traffic analysis does not adequately take into account the visitor count/day. Where are these numbers in the traffic analysis? Add that to the new developments already approved: Coconut Beach Resort, Coconut Plantation Village and Coco Palms in the Wailua corridor.
Please testify for the love of Kauai.
•••
Gabriela Taylor is a resident of Kapaa.
When supply meets demand, upward price pressure will ease.
How can one be for affordable housing and against development?
Development is the only way to increase supply so that price pressure can ease.
But…….there will never be enough development on Kauai to meet demand. Just look at Oahu. So why not stop the development and preserve Kauai as it is? ……or at least first build the roads!
Astute comment right there! Plan for development with infrastructure plans and improvements. Set timelines, hire highly rated companies to get thing done within budget, then make plans to increase housing supply. Take the money and run developers have been exploiting Hawaiian lands since before the overthrow. Just implement real checks and balances to smart growth and everything can still become manageable.
If there was ever a development that deserves to be built on our beautiful Island that will help our Island without ruining views, water sources, or any other negative results of development, Hokua Place is the one. WE NEED HOUSING!! Bored individuals who just sit around all day and complain about things they know nothing about, and then actually try to recruit others with their false fears, are a big problem for us all. Build Hokua Place and allow hundreds of our residents the ability to own their own homes on Kauai. Isn’t that what they complain and whine about from the other side of their mouths?? The author’s main sniveling is about traffic, which we all would like alleviated. This development Traffic Studies are showing little, if any, traffic congestion. First of all, the developer owns the bypass road and could shut it down any time they want. You ready for that? They are giving the bypass road to the County as part of the development! They are building additional feeder roads leaving the project that will re direct traffic out of the main congestion zones. Hokua will be built on land that is already adjacent to the Solar Power System and other existing community development, and is contiguous with our Middle School neighborhood. It’s the perfect development for Kauai! Build the homes, but keep Kauai’s beauty in tact! Fantastic! Unless you hate the locals and want all of their children and retired parents to continue having to move off Island to own a home!! Vote YES on Hokua Place! Our Seniors, low income ohana and children need it now!
Gabriela is right. The best way to solve Kauai’s affordable housing crisis is to make sure 231 affordable housing units don’t get built.
Mr. Oswald. ‘The developer owns the bypass road’. Where do you get your information? I am very confident that the developer does not own the entire bypass road. Please state where your ‘facts’ come from.
This development is too large