Religious center is
approved with limits

Both sides say they
are disappointed by
the city's decision

---

The city has approved a church's controversial proposal to operate a meditation center at the top of Pacific Heights.

But the conditional use permit granted yesterday to the Institute for Research in Human Happiness includes restrictions that will curtail plans to build an $8 million retreat where groups of 30 people would stay for three-day directed meditation training.

Eric Crispin, director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, said yesterday that the church will be required to maintain the existing historic estate at the site and will be allowed only 10 overnight guests at a time at the facility. He said the conditions he placed on development of the site "speak directly to the majority of concerns raised by residents."

Opponent Melvyn Miyagi said, "We would have preferred that it be refused outright." He is one of 275 residents of the upscale hillside neighborhood who signed a petition against the plan. About 70 of them spoke at an Aug. 6 public hearing at City Hall.

Miyagi, an attorney, was one of several who charged that the center amounted to a commercial lodging.

The Rev. Sean Matsumoto said yesterday the church had not been formally notified of the decision.

"If the information is true, we disagree with it, and we will consider our next step," Matsumoto said. "More than 2,500 supporters will be very disappointed with Mr. Crispin's decision. For the past six months, we have made every effort to fulfill all legal requirements. We have sincerely tried to understand the neighbors' concerns and offer solutions."

The church bought the 3.2-acre site from Bishop Museum early this year and submitted plans to replace the 1927 mansion with a 19,500-square-foot center. Also known as Kofuku-no-Kagaku, the church is one of the "new religions" that have sprung up in Japan in recent years with teachings based in Buddhism.

It has been in Hawaii since 1995 and has about 300 members who meet at a South Beretania Street center.

Crispin said yesterday: "It is our duty to balance the needs and desires of the community with the rights of the applicant and to strike a balance that is fair to all concerned.

"They were proposing a lodging facility for 25 people, and that would be inappropriate in a residential district regardless of what organization was applying," he said.

"Due to its significance, its historic quality ... we require them to maintain the existing residence and not tear it down and put up a facility twice as large," Crispin said. "To build, they would have to provide revised plans that will include the existing structures. If they purpose new structures, it would have to be reviewed by the state Historic Preservation Office."

The house is not on the national or state registries of historic buildings. Designed by architect Hart Wood in classic territorial architecture similar to the Honolulu Academy of Arts, it was built in 1927 for Paul Winslow and his kamaaina wife, Ruth Anderson Winslow. Princess Elizabeth Kahanu, widow of Prince Kuhio, lived in the house, and her body lay in state there after her death in 1932, said historic preservation advocate Nancy Bannick, who helped prepare a history at Crispin's request.

It was most recently occupied by Frances Damon Holt, who died last year, and her husband, the late author and historian John Dominis Holt.