Is Turtle Bay’s Expansion Good for the North Shore?

Hawaii Business Magazine
Defend Oahu's Choon James counters Turtle Bay's Project Manager Ralph Makaiau on the merits of the proposed development.

Q: Is Turtle Bay’s Expansion Good for the North Shore?
RALPH MAKAIAU
project manager, Kuilima Resort Co.

A: Balanced, responsible development that takes into account the needs of the community was the intent of the Kahuku community that originally envisaged the Turtle Bay plan and has been embraced by Kuilima Resort Co. since its involvement in the project. Through lengthy collective effort and negotiations, the developer and community leaders each received what they wanted. The preservation of vast open spaces, easy access to beaches, shoreline setbacks that exceed the standard for developers to protect culturally sensitive areas, and height restrictions on new construction were among the stipulations in the Unilateral Agreement, a legally binding document that locked in the developer and community to keep their promises to each other. Creating another high-density Waikiki clearly was never part of the plan.
The agreement served as a model of collaboration for other developers. Now, once again, Kuilima has become a case study for Hawaii’s business community because of significant implications for all developers. Over the years, the Kahuku property has switched hands and the downswing of the local economy through the 1980s and ’90s halted development throughout the Islands. At a time when Hawaii’s economy is picking up and Kuilima is ready to move forward, new legislation and activist groups attempt to undermine the community’s entitlements. Unfortunately, as is often the case, a loud, vocal minority drowns out the silent majority in the community.
Despite Hawaii’s low unemployment rate, Koolauloa (Oahu’s Northeast Side) is in dire need of revitalization. We envision a vibrant, flourishing community without compromising the rural feel unique to the area. Kahuku Hospital faces financial challenges without support from businesses and the community to keep its doors open. A strong economic driver in the area is vitally necessary to prevent homelessness and other social ills. There is much more we can do for the community, and Kuilima has an important role to play in Koolauloa.

CHOON JAMES
Defend Oahu Coalition Boardmember

A: International investment groups like Oaktree Capital are exploiting Hawaii. Paradise is becoming a playground for the rich. These corporations profit millions of dollars at the expense of Hawaii’s people, culture and environment. Without protection, North Shore will become another ritzy resort a la Kaanapali, Maui. Local folks will eventually be priced out and pushed out. (The cheapest Turtle Bay Resort Ocean Villa condo is $1.5 million)
The Golden Rule – the one with the gold rules – buys top-gun consultants who quietly ramrod permitting processes and attorneys who insinuate lawsuits if they don’t get what they want, thereby paralyzing elected politicians from representing their constituents.
Five new hotels with an additional 3,500 units will inevitably trigger the “Multiplier Effect.” Oaktree dangles the carrot of 2,500 jobs. But, the present 487-unit hotel perennially has trouble filling employment vacancies. Needed imported labor will trigger more competition for housing, educational/social services, and aggravate already chronic traffic congestion. Oaktree touts 100 affordable homes. Twenty-five-hundred (imported) jobs and 100 homes? Do the math. What are the real community benefits?
When corporate investors reap their dividends and leave the Islands, all of Hawaii’s tax-payers will pay for the inevitable impacts – traffic woes, infrastructure improvement, rising property values, limited beach access, water/electricity resources, and an irretrievably vanished country lifestyle that kamaainas hold dear and precious.
Oaktree: We are your neighbors. We are hotel workers, unionists, kupunas, teachers, firemen, mothers, uncles, environmentalists, the everyman. You recycle certain hotel employees as your community support. But 76 percent of Hawaii residents are against building a new hotel.
Oaktree claims a new era of “openness.” Then why fight against updating the irrelevant 1985 Environmental Impact Statement for this resort expansion?
Oaktree: Live Aloha! No PR games, no smoke-and-mirror maneuverings. Let’s resurrect the defunct 1986 Unilateral Agreement’s Kuilima North Shore Strategy Planning Committee for a transparent public dialogue.

Report casts doubt on Turtle Bay's finances

The owner of the Turtle Bay Resort on O'ahu's North Shore yesterday declined to comment on a published report that the company may not have enough cash to meet a loan payment due at the end of June.

The full story at the Honolulu Advertiser

Hotel Expansion - North Shore roads are already inadequate

Fortunately, there were no injuries or lives lost from Saturday's rockslide at Waimea Bay.

However, combined with the continued erosion of this nearly century-old two-lane highway, its partial closures during high surf and the almost daily bumper-to-bumper traffic, it clearly demonstrates that the roads on the North Shore are inadequate to handle even the current traffic load.

Given this reality, Turtle Bay Resort's planned expansion defies common sense.
We need to seriously examine the wisdom of allowing this project to proceed unchecked, especially considering its impact on the North Shore.
Carol Philips

Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, April 13, 2007

Activist-Actor Sean Penn Dances on Sacred Hawaiian Burial Grounds

As the massive Turtle Bay Resort development project threatens to destroy what's left of rural Oahu, part time actor (I Am Sam, Fast Times at Ridgemont High)/full-time activist Sean Penn, his wife, Robin Wright Penn, and his two children have checked in to the resort for the holidays. But, while the Penn clan relaxes, Hawaiian natives are getting restless over the normally enlightened movie star's ignorance of their cause.

More at:
Hollywood, Interrupted
New York Post

Turning up the heat at Turtle Bay

Wearing red shirts for solidarity and chanting as they marched, about 150 Native Hawaiians, North Shore residents and environmentalists made their way from the highway entrance of the Turtle Bay Resort to the ocean yesterday to protest a plan to build five more hotels along the rural coastline.

Full story at Honolulu Advertiser...
More reporting at:
KGMB News (Honolulu)
KITV News - The Hawaii Channel (Honolulu)
KHNL News (Honolulu)

A Letter From the Defend Oahu Coalition

Here's a letter sent out to the public informing of upcoming pending hearings for the State House. Defend Oahu Coalition is asking the public to voice their opinion and support of SB 851:

SB 851 (SD1) will ensure that any future development in the Koolauloa District respects current cultural preservation rules and regulations. It also requires a new cultural assessment of the area. It will not effect existing buildings and structures. In fact, we believe that even though the wording has been changed in the latest amendment (SD1), it is still limited to the Turtle Bay Development since it is the only development that we know of in Koolauloa that got its permits before the changes in the law.

DOC believes that developers should respect Hawaii's host culture, and, given the communication between the owners/developers of the Turtle Bay Resort and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the respectful and responsible thing to do is to follow DLNR's suggestion of a 750 foot setback for the Turtle Bay Resort expansion project. Such a setback would ensure the preservation of the sand dunes and other areas which are thought to have more Native Hawaiian burial sites.

http://www.defendoahucoalition.org/DLNR_letter_Oct_2006.pdf

NOTE: This bill does not prevent the Turtle Bay Resort expansion from going forward. It merely "strongly encourages" the developer to follow the suggestion of DLNR to set the project back and additional 100-150 feet from what their permits already require to keep the sand dunes and other areas that are suspected to have burial sites in tact, to follow the suggestions of the Oahu Burial Council, the Historic Preservation Division, and other agencies in the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

DOC does not support the Turtle Bay Resort expansion - especially given the fact that the permits are over twenty years old. Many changes have occurred over the last twenty years and we have a better understanding of environmental issues now than we did when the project was first approved.

While SB 851 (SD1) will not stop the project, DOC believes it is an important step in the right direction - requiring a new cultural assessment for the area and encouraging the developer to respect the iwi of the kupuna who lived here before us.

The bill needs to get a hearing in the House Water, Land Ocean Resources & Hawaiian Affairs as well as the Judiciary Committee and it needs to pass And, then it can be voted on by the entire House.

For more information on SB 851 (SD1) and why Defend Oahu supports it, go to: http://defendoahucoalition.org /index.php

Contact information for State House committee leaders:
Chair: Rep. Ken Ito 808-586-8470 repito@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Vice-Chair: Rep. Pono Chong 808-586-9490 repchong@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Committee Member Rep. Michael Y. Magaoay 808-586-6380 repmagaoay@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Oahu shoreline setback proposal could affect entire state

A proposal to increase the shoreline setback to 750 feet for Oahu's entire windward North Shore has passed the Senate and could open debate about increasing shoreline setbacks for oceanfront property across Hawaii.

More at Pacific Business News (Paid subscription)

DOC Rally at Honolulu Hale/City Hall

Defend Oahu Coalition has organized a rally to occur in front of Honolulu Hale/City Hall (530 South King Street) on Thursday February 22, 2007 starting from 9 am. They are calling upon the Mayor (Mufi Hanneman) to listen to the community and substantial opposition to the Turtle Bay Resort expansion plans. They are calling upon the Mayor to act.

The Turtle Bay Resort expansion plans were announced early last year among overwhelming opposition. Still, the parent company Oaktree Capital Management has pressed on with plans.
Oaktree is a $30 billion investment company. Oaktree's investment specialty is in markets where information for competitors is limited, sometimes known as "inefficient" markets. Such focus has been described by Business Week magazine as a vulture fund.

The Defend Oahu Coalition is a diverse group of community residents, environmentalists, activists and religious leaders all working together towards one goal: protecting communities on Oahu from the dangerous effects of large scale development. They believe that the beautiful North Shore is for all Oahu residents as well as visitors, and is committed to ensuring that it will continue to be a resource for generations to come.

Senate bill to be heard affecting Turtle Bay Resort expansion

Hawaii State Senator Jill Tokuda has reported that the Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs will be hearing Senate Bill 851 (relating to the shoreline setback and cultural assessment for the TBR development site) at its meeting on Wednesday, February 21 at 2:45 p.m. in room 414 of the Hawaii State Capitol.

Testimony on behalf of residents, community organizations, and concerned citizens is welcomed. You can submit by:

1. email testimony@capitol.gov
2. dropping off testimony with the committee clerk, Room 407, State Capitol
3. faxing (up to 5 pages) to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Office at 586-6659 or 1-800-586-6659 (neighbor islands).

Testimony from visitors is also welcome! Tell our legislators why you come to O'ahu.

SB 851 "Requires a new historic and cultural assessment and a minimum shoreline setback of seven hundred fifty feet for any development makai of Kamehameha highway between Kawela stream and Marconi road in the Koolauloa district on Oahu."

Hawaii State Senator Russell Kokubu, chair of the Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs introduced SB 851.

Hawaii State Senators who represent the area of concern are:

Senator Russell S. Kokubun, Chair
Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs
Phone 808-586-6760; Fax 808-586-6689
E-mail senkokubun@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Senator Jill N. Tokuda, Vice Chair
Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs
Phone 808-587-7215; Fax 808-587-7220
E-mail sentokuda@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Senator Clayton Hee
Phone 808-586-7330; Fax 808-586-7334
E-mail senhee@Capitol.hawaii.gov

You can monitor the bill status here: SB 851

City Council to Vote on Permit Deadline Resolution

Courtesy of Defend Oahu Coalition

Resolution 06-366, Requesting the Department of Planning and Permitting to establish appropriate deadlines for project commencement and completion as conditions in unilateral agreements relating to significant zone changes, will be voted on by the City Council this Wednesday, 1/24/06.

Now is the time to remind our City Council that open-ended development agreements must never again be approved. Please make your voice heard!

Written testimony can be faxed to 527-6910 and email testimony can be submitted at http://www.honolulu.gov/council/emailccl.htm
Persons wishing to testify in person are requested to register by 10 a.m. in the interest of time management as follows:
a. use the On‑Line City Council Speaker Registration form available at http://www.honolulu.gov/council/attnspkccl.htm;
b. send a fax to 527-6910 indicating your desire to register to speak, along with your name, phone number and subject matter;
c. fill out the registration form in person; or
d. call 523-4236.

Also, urge our city council to allow the public to have input on the impact of Turtle Bay ’s proposed 5 new hotels on the North Shore by holding hearings for Resolutions 06-173 and 06-075.

Resolution 06-173: Assigning to the Director of Planning and Permitting a Proposal to Amend Ordinance 86-99 (Re: Rezoning for Turtle Bay Resort Expansion Project) by Amending the Unilateral Agreement Incorporated Therein by Reference. Click here to check the status of this bill on the City Council Docushare.

Resolution 06-075: Urging the Department of Planning and Permitting to Enforce Strict Compliance with All Applicable Laws and Unilateral Agreement and Special Management Area Use Permit/Shoreline Setback Variance Conditions Prior to the Issuance of Any Permits and Approvals for the Turtle Bay Resort Expansion Project. Click here to check the status of this bill on the City Council Docushare.

Kuilima's Response on Burials is Arrogant

Kuilima Corp. once again has shown its arrogance by defying a state official's suggestion to revise its massive development plans at Turtle Bay Resort and Kawela Bay.

Issues such as burials are precisely the reason a new environmental impact statement should be required of Kuilima.There have been too many changes on the North Shore since the 1980s when the original agreements were made.

Most tourists coming to the area do not want to spend vacation time in densely populated areas; that is why they seek the tranquility of the country. Development on the scale of Kuilima's plans would destroy that sense of place.

Kudos to State Historic Preservaton Division administrator Melanie Chinen for warning Kuilima about future obstacles.

If the warnings go unheeded, and Kuilima is forced to revise later when delays will cost millions of dollars or kill the project entirely, you will not see any tears from me.
Robert Thurston
Hale'iwa

State urges Turtle Bay resort to revise layout

A key state official is warning the Turtle Bay Resort to drastically revise its plan to build up to five new hotels or it could face delays and other issues because of the strong chance that human remains will be found at the site.

A lawyer for the resort's owners, Kuilima Corp., responded that the project's financing could be jeopardized if the state doesn't back off.

More at Honolulu Advertiser

Hotel rooms require North Shore hospital

I'm sorry to hear of Kahuku Hospital's possible demise. I had two children there in the 1980s. One delivery required an emergency C-section (God bless Dr. Ben Branch). I might not have made it to another facility in time.

My story is only one among the thousands of people who needed medical attention immediately, not later with having to travel to Castle Medical Center or Wahiawa hospital. It's still only a two-lane road, one each way.

Everyone better think again about the possibility of five more hotels -- what's up with that? Come to Hawaii, but don't have an emergency on the North Shore, because it will take an hour to get to the hospital in an ambulance.

Momi Greene
Keahole-Kona, Hawaii

Health care essential to Kahuku community

Having medical care is essential to the well-being and peace of mind for those of us who live in the Kahuku community. As employers with a total of 665 employees (85 percent of whom live here in the area) and 300,000 guests per year, access to healthcare is one of our top priorities.

Turtle Bay Resort and Kuilima Resort Co. have been working closely with those involved with the effort to save Kahuku Hospital and ensure continued emergency care in the community. It is a complex process and will take some time for us to determine the best steps forward. We, like many of the North Shore and Ko'olauloa community leaders and representatives, are extremely committed to finding a solution.

Unfortunately, in the opinion of some, this seems to have been reduced to a simple matter of healthcare versus resort development.

This couldn't be further from the truth; in reality, we are mutually dependent upon each other. Having adequate healthcare services for the community and the resort is essential, and building a strong economic driver helps to sustain healthcare services for our community.

All of the components to building a strong, flourishing community are important. At a critical time like this, we need everyone's kokua. We invite others to join with us to help find solutions for our community.

Nicola Jones, chief executive officer, Kuilima Resort Co.
Bob Boyle, managing director, Turtle Bay Resort

Turtle Bay CEO to answer some questions

On Monday, Nov. 27 from 12 Noon - 1:00 p.m., Nicola Jones, the CEO of Kuilima Resort Company (the affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management which is planning the expansion of Turtle Bay) will be available live to answer your questions at the Honolulu Advertiser's "Hot Seat" Blog. We encourage everyone to ask questions and post comments regarding the hotel's proposed expansion:

http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com

Please, keep the country, country

We the good people of the North Shore have a history of resisting — and stopping — large development.

Just in my lifetime, we have stopped the quarry, the hotel at Pua'ena Point, the Obayashi development in Pupukea, the mall at Sharks Cove and the condos in Waimea Valley. We love where we live for a reason — it is the country.

Today the good people of the North Shore are resisting, but not stopping, the Turtle Bay development. Why?

What hold does Oaktree have over our elected representatives? Why are 20-year-old Environmental Impact Statements valid "with prejudice?" Why does it move forward against the people's will?
Garrett McNulty
Waialua

New hotels will only add to bad situation

I am utterly amazed at Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna's decision that Kuilima Resort Co. does not have to do a new Environmental Impact Statement on the planned expansion of hotels on the North Shore of O'ahu. I have lived on the North Shore for 36 years and the traffic has become an enormous problem.

I invite McKenna, the City Council, mayor and anyone in a position of power to drive to the North Shore and experience the weekend traffic snarl from Hale'iwa to Turtle Bay. (Weekdays aren't much better.) Nowadays, there doesn't have to be a surf meet or a holiday to cause congestion. It is an everyday occurrence. Obviously, 3,500 more hotel rooms will increase the headaches. It will be intolerable.

We need to remember to respect the land and our residents and visitors as well.
Jan Olson
Hale'iwa

Country better than chaos in North Shore

The idea to expand Turtle Bay onto Kawela Bay and extend toward Kahuku is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard. The claim is that there will be more jobs available to residents and more business for store owners. But who are they really trying to please here?

Building more hotels will not only cause even more traffic and congestion, but it will mark the end of the North Shore, as we know it. The country will no longer live up to its name. The locals will no longer be locals, but rather outsiders who can afford higher rents.

All I am asking is to keep the North Shore true to its roots — a beautiful, laid back, humble stretch of coastline free of the everyday chaos caused by big buildings and thousands of people.

The citizens of Hawai'i are more important than the interests of far-off companies; most North Shore residents would much rather drive to town for work than to allow the building of these hotels and see the disappearance of one of the last places of genuine local life.
Rebecca Fonoimoana
Hale'iwa

Hawaii firm tapped for Turtle Bay Resort Expansion web PR

As mentioned in a post a few days ago, the Turtle Bay Resort Expansion has a teaser site for their PR. It's unknown if this is for investors or for an upcoming foray into smoothing relations and informing the public.

However, in checking the status of the site www.kuilimainfo.com, I found it to be deactivated. It was registered Oct 19, 2006. It seems that the resort is not quite able or willing to share their plans with the public. Investigating it further, I found that local web development company - Firefly, based in Honolulu, is the registrar.

Hospital closure: Crazy

To close the one and only hospital that serves the entire North Shore of O'ahu and much of the Windward coast is absurd. It's also foolish, dangerous and, if stupid is different than absurd, then it's stupid as well.

To build several new hotels and condos on the North Shore, an area that can ill afford any increase in traffic, is moronic and just seems to have the unmistakable stench of greed. To do both is simply beyond words!

Have the powers that be totally lost their minds and sense of perspective?
Wayne Pearce
Hale'iwa