Maunawili Community Association

MUSE, Volume 6, Issue 2 August 2003

MUSE, Volume 6, Issue 2, August 2003

12-INCH WATER MAIN AND FIRE HYDRANTS—APRIL 2004 MAUNAWILI ROAD & MAUNAWILI LOOPupgrading the 8-inch water main to a 12-inch water main and installing fire hydrants, at approximately 350 feet spacing, along Maunawili Road and Maunawili Loop between Auloa Road and Aloha Oe Drive. See Map for project limits.
The project will be advertised in September 2003 with bid opening in October 2003. BWS ‘s estimated start date of construction is Spring 2004. Questions? Email GAYSON CHING at BWS is GCHING@hbws.org
CONSTRUCTION IN MAUNAWILI VALLEY
Item # 1 is located at 1011 Maunawili Road and consists of 6 acres, zoned AG-2 General Agricultural District and is located inside the urban district of Maunawili Valley Park. One fence has been constructed on the property to demark boundaries. Back in ’92 a retaining wall was constructed.
Item # 2 is located at 1120-1148 Maunawili Road and consists of 10 acres zoned AG-2 General Agricultural District and is located inside the urban district of Maunawili Valley Park. Current permitting is for a new 2-story single family dwelling to be built, at this time, on one of the 5 designated lots. An NPDES permit has been approved.
Item # 3 is located at 1011A Maunawili Road and consists of 6 acres, zoned AG-2 General Agricultural District and is located inside the urban district of Maunawili Valley Park. A retaining wall was built in ‘93. Current permitting is for a new 2-story single family dwelling.

Windward Regional Park: approve $4 million to purchase 900 acres in the back of Maunawili Valley and $6 Million to obtain a Conservation Easement in May, 2001. The offer for the 900 acres, by the City to Weinberg-HRT was declined and the money in the budget appears to have lapsed. The plans and efforts of the City appear to be stalled.
However, it was found that Weinberg-HRT had approached the Oahu Na Ala Hele Trails Director, Aaron Lowe to secure a Quit Claim on Old Government Road for concessions offered to DLNR which appear to include the little white parking lot on old Auloa Road outside the entrance to Luana Hills Country Club so as to relocate the parking for Olomana Trail and to relocate the Maunawili Falls Trail head and construct a comfort station and parking lot for hikers near the Queen’s Retreat. In this attempt to negotiate with the State DLNR for the Old Government Road owned by the State of Hawaii (that’s us) it might be possible for Weingerg-HRT to do all sorts of things including a Golf Academy, a food service facility and a Chip ‘N Putt.
In December 2002, residents noted structures at Queen’s Retreat had already been demolished and the surrounding land had been bull-dozed and graded, including the Queen Liliokulani vacation retreat building. Dr. Paul Brennan had led a number of tours and issues of concern have been noted during those tours.
Historical sites need demolition and/or building permits before work is done and these had not been secured before work was done. There has been little regard for the Historic artifacts of Maunawili Valley. Road. The current construction had occurred outside what was authorized in the CUP.
The concerns of the Community of Maunawili Valley included traffic ingress and egress through our community. The CUP was specific that all traffic for the Golf Course property was to travel through the Golf Course land, not the Maunawili Communities. No traffic plan/study has been done that would address this concern.
A significant property of about 50 acres, where the 10 year lease of farms had been, is now vacated as the lease was not renewed by Weinberg-HRT. Weinberg-HRT may wish to sell this land as individual residential lots zoned AG-2. When the Golf Course was first built the owners were able to obtain water and sewer accommodation by the City.
The CUP also has a covenant that restricts residential building on the Golf Course property, however, this does not include the 10-year lease the farmers occupied, consisting of 50 acres Makai of Maunawili Estates in the valley. The covenant was filed in 1992 and therefore restricts the developing until 2012. However, there have been sufficient violations that cause concern that this covenant may not be being honored appropriately.
It has been noted that some of the coffee trees are still growing in the back of the valley, and the Hawaii Sugar Planters are still active as the University of Hawaii.
Councilmember Barbara Marshall had been requested to reinitiate the original plan with the City and County of Honoluluand the City Council and revive the purchase of the land and access easement. It was clarified that a Conservation Easement would not only allow access to the conservation and preservation land, the 900 acres which was previously referred to as Windward Regional Park, but it would preclude building houses by Weinberg-HRT and co-join the Waimanalo Forest Reserve. The current golf course property contains a portion of the Old Government Road and the community does not want the State of Hawaii DLNR to allow ownership of the OGR to go to Weinberg-HRT as it would then be able to use the road to develop the property for houses and deny access to the public.
Unless the concept of Windward Regional Park is resurrected, the community will lose control over our development plan, the Ko’olaupoko Sustainable Communities Plan (adopted by the City and County in August 2000), and further urban sprawl outside the existing community boundaries could or would go unchecked. It was noted that that although the City entered negotiations to get the park and preclude further development, in keeping with the will of the community, that those negotiations stalled when Weinberg-HRT wanted more dollars. The City Council then stalled in providing those dollars at that time and subsequently the complexion of the City Council has altered with the most recent election and it is worth the community’s efforts to continue to pursue the Windward Regional Park issue. The community is in agreement on the issue of traffic and does not want the existing roads altered in an effort to accommodate more traffic. Keep the country “country.”
One must remember, the land for the Windward Regional Park is already conservation and preservation land and even if it becomes “ours”, we can’t get there without access over the Old Government Road. Management of such a park should also be considered for staffing and budget dollars. It is unfortunate that the current leadership within DLNR has been found more sympathetic to developers than the people of the State of Hawaii and the Land Use Commission guardians may not be guarding our lands. The only remaining large portion of land on the Windward side, Kailua side, is Maunawili Valley.
Representative Pendleton has stated that he shared the community’s concerns and supports no further development in Maunawili Valley; no more traffic on the roadways, no changes to the characteristics of the valley and strongly supports the resurrection of the issues of the Windward Regional Park. He suggests that the community get together with the legislature and persuade the City & County, Councilwoman Barbara Marshall, Charles Dejou and others that Weinberg-HRT must not disregard the will of the community as regards the land and the historical significance of Maunawili Valley. Letters of support and calls can be addressed on behalf of the community by the legislators who are mindful of the community’s support. Pendleton suggested the building of a coalition of support in the City Council with the help of the legislators would do well to get 5 votes from the City Council. Besides the City Council and legislative supports, the community may also draw on Congressman Ed Case especially as he is on island once a month and is sensitive to the Hawaiian issues being trampled here. The community was reminded this issue is not a partisan issue Department should be notified by call and letter. The past infractions have been addressed to the SHPD and the community has received formal replies.
A request to freeze permits has been implemented until such time as the infractions have been rectified, fined, or both. Letters have also been written to the Department of Planning and Permitting, addressing many of these current questions, and although we already have been given some verbal responses, we await written confirmation from the Department of Planning and Permitting. The historical prospect of the Hedemann house and the Queen’s Bath in Maunawili valley is in jeopardy. Community observation of demolition and new buildings, the disregard of Weinberg-HRT require pursuing the Historical and Archeological sites, identified in 1979 in the watershed and the need to place these features into the Federal Historic Preservation 1) under federal jurisdiction, 2) clearer obligations defined and 3) a clear understanding that the October 2002 Preservation Plan, submitted to the State of Hawaii must be implemented to protect the public interest. Pressure needs to be continued on Weinberg-HRT to be a responsible party in protecting these sites, not destroying them.
It was saddening that sites were on the State Register in years past and removed because some land owners had not agreed beforehand. In the case of the Queen’s Retreat, the State Historic Preservation Department has been requested to immediately accept the Historic Preservation Plan of October 2002. In response to what can be done, it was noted that Councilwoman Marshall was able to have the Department of Planning and Permitting Flag the property for future permits.
It was confirmed that the destruction and building was done before December of 2002, after the Historic Preservation Plan of October 2002 was filed by Weinberg-HRT. Permits were not in place and did not match the criteria of the CUP, the building was in the wrong area. Other community observations included tours of the valley for educational purposes that observed the destruction and building had been done during a 5 day period between tours. The grading of the area is further obliterating the original Hawaiian trail that is currently under the Old Government Road. Research done previously has confirmed the paving stones of the old Hawaiian trail do reside under the Old Government Road.

Useful Telephone Numbers and Addresses

Our Elected Officials
Councilmember Barbara Marshall
Tel: 547-7002 Fax: 523-4220
bmarshall@co.honolulu.hi.us
Representative David A. Pendleton
Tel: 586-9490 Fax: 586-9496
reppendleton@capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Bob Hogue
Tel: 587-7215 Fax: 587-7220
senhogue@capitol.hawaii.gov
Sanitation Complaints: Call the State Sanitation Branch,
586-8000.
Water Waste Hotline: To report water waste by an individual, business or government agency, call the Board of Water
Supply, 527-6126.
Street Signs: damaged/missing/faded: Call the City,
484-7613 or 484-7644
Sidewalk, overgrown lots, other housing code violations: Call the City, 527-6308.
Overgrown Trees: On City roadways, call the Department of Parks and Recreation at 971-7151 or the Department of Customer Services at 523-4381. On State Roads, call the Department of Transportation at 831-6703.
Potholes: On State roads, call 536-7852; City, 527-6006.
Rats and other pests: Call the State’s Vector Control Branch, 831-6767.
Environmental concern line (City): Call 527-5091 to report illegal dumping or non-point source pollution; volunteer for environmental projects; or to get information on recycling, household hazardous wastes, bulky item pickups, etc.

Noise Complaints: Call police at 911 or Health Department’s noise and radiation branch, 586-4700.
Computer Donations: Hawaii Computer For Kids works to put computers in public school classrooms. Call Helping Hands Hawaii (843-8473); Computer-Aided Technologies International (521-2259 or email cfk@catii.com); or contact any member of the Rotary Club of Metropolitan Honolulu.
Donate functional computers to Leeward Community College’s “Everything Old is NEW Again” program, where they are recycled back into the community. Call Marianne Luna at 455-0662 or e-mail lunamari@hawaii.edu, or call 455-0477. (Useful Telephone Numbers and Address are Continued on page 5).
Abandoned vehicles: Call the city, 733-2530
Aircraft nuisance:
For civilian aircraft, call the State, 1-888-697-7813.
For Military: If the branch is unknown, call U.S. Pacific Command, 477-6282; Army, 655-8727;
Navy/Marine, 257-2121 (day) or 257-2898 (night);
Air Force, 449-2490;
Coast Guard, 541-2121;
National Guard, 733-4258.
Call the Federal Aviation Administration, 837-8300 for safety complaints about low-flying aircraft .
Animal Nuisance: Roosters, barking dogs, etc., call police at 911. Lost or found animals, call Hawaiian Humane Society, 946-2187, ext. 285.
Better Business Bureau of Hawaii: For the latest scams, to check a company/charity’s record or to file complaints, call 536-6956.
Consumer protection: For consumer-related complaints/questions, call state Office of Consumer Protection, 587-3222.
Credit ratings: To get copies of credit reports, call
Experian, 1-800-682-7654;
Trans Union, 1-800-888-4213;
Equifax, 1-800-685-1111. Call 1-888-567-8688 to have your name excluded from lists of names “prescreened” and sold by credit bureaus.
Telemarketers bothering you? You can register your phone number and your fax number at donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222. Stop unwanted solicitations over your phone line. Call or visit the website today.
Junk Mail: To stop the unwanted flow, write to Mail Preference Service, c/o Direct Marketing Association, P. O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008.
Recycling: Call 527-5335 or check www.opala.org for locations of community recycling bins and other information.
Computer recycling: Island Recycling (845-1188), 1811 Dillingham Blvd.) accepts nonfunctioning computers.
Book/Magazine donations: Call Friends of the Library,
536-4174. They’ll take donations or refer you elsewhere.
Health/Human Service Agencies: For information and referral to health and human service organization 24 hours a day, seven days a week, call 211 statewide, maintained by Aloha United Way.

Community Reminders

Noise Pollution:
Mopeds, Bad Mufflers, Wed Whackers and Leaf Blowers. Be Courteous to your neighbors, especially early mornings.

Scoop it up ! ! !
A reminder when you are walking on the “country roads” of Maunawili (especially the ones without sidewalks) please remember to pack your baggy . . . And scoop it up!!!

Email us ureonnow@lava.net