State still wants to acquire Turtle Bay

The Lingle administration has made two unsuccessful offers to buy Turtle Bay Resort but remains willing to negotiate with brokers representing the scenic North Shore property.

The state has sought to acquire the resort land and sell off the hotel, golf courses and other businesses while preserving open space from Kahuku Point to Kawela Bay.

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Lingle's Turtle Bay plan gains lawmakers' backing

State House and Senate lawmakers, in a vote just before a midnight Friday deadline, agreed to a bill that would allow the state to acquire and preserve Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore.

The Lingle administration is in negotiations with private investors on the sale of the hotel, golf courses and other developed portions of the 880-acre resort. The idea is to use proceeds of the sale of the developed land to finance the preservation of undeveloped land such as Kawela Bay and Kahuku Point.

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EIS also needed for developments

The conclusion of the Supreme Court that the Hawaii Superferry must conduct an environmental assessment seems obvious but deserves applause from anyone out there who cares about maintaining the quality of life that we knew when we were growing up here.

So let me get this straight; hundreds of vehicles arriving from Oahu to Kauai should warrant an environmental impact statement. But thousands of cars and people and a massive development of prime ag/conservation land at Kawela Bay-Kahuku on Oahu should not. Makes perfect sense to me!

And they want us to conserve water by shortening our showers and starving our plants, yet the Hawaii Visitors Bureau is constantly trying to increase our visitor count.

Maybe the Hawaiian people are finally realizing that our resources are running out and we can't rely on the government to embrace what many of us hold dear. And maybe the government should realize that we are through putting up with its lack of leadership.

Toby Morris
Kailua

North Shore project will strain resources

Watching the Live Earth concerts recently, I was reminded of our interconnectedness. Each of us has an impact on the global climate crisis.

O'ahu is saturated with cars. The proposed Turtle Bay expansion will not only strain roads beyond their limits, but will add to Hawai'i's contribution to the climate crisis by placing further demands on water, electricity and waste disposal resources. How much more can O'ahu take?

Just as importantly, a development such as this will cause the loss of one of the most pristine, undeveloped and beautiful places in the world. Once it is lost, it will be lost forever. The coastline between Turtle Bay and Kahuku Point is equal in beauty to Ka'ena and Ka'iwi.

I recently answered a telephone survey for Hawai'i 2050, created by the Legislature to "establish a mechanism to ensure that our unique islands and way of life are maintained and sustained for current and future generations to enjoy."

While this is a noble effort, in reality there is no 2050. There is only the present, and the time to create a sustainable environment is now.

Building 3,500 more resort units on the North Shore would be an act of destruction, the exact opposite of sustainability.
Michael Zucker
Palolo