Haiku Village residents try to halt building on park land
Some Haiku Village residents want to preserve a piece of land that has long been used as a community park, as the landowner pushes to relocate a preschool there.
"We don't want anything on that open space. We want to keep it as a passive park," said Sid Tsubata, a 26-year resident.
Some residents oppose a Kamehameha Schools bill seeking to rezone two acres of land from preservation to residential. About 280 people signed a petition opposing the zone change.
Kamehameha Schools wants to relocate a preschool now on land near Windward Mall and Heeia Elementary School. That parcel is also owned by Kamehameha Schools and is two blocks from the park.
"We see a need to use it as a preschool, and the residents want it to remain open as a park," said Marsha Bolson, Kamehameha Schools communications director.
The City Council recently deferred action on the schools' bill to get more information.
Residents contend the park was to be dedicated to the community "in perpetuity," but not according to Kamehameha Schools.
"There was a subdivision 40 to 50 years ago where this parcel was identified as a park. We're not certain what the status is. That's why we asked Corporation Counsel to look into it," said Henry Eng, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting.
At that time the parcel was not a mandatory dedication to the city, said Deputy Corporation Counsel Don Kitaoka.
There was sort of a mention that the parcel was restricted for park use during a tentative approval of the subdivision a long time ago, but it was never made official, he said.
"That's the problem," Kitaoka said, noting that it predates a park dedication ordinance that requires subdivisions to dedicate a portion of land for park use. He said they are still looking into the matter.
For about 20 years the Haiku Village Community Association maintained the park through dues collected by homeowners. Tsubata said they expected the park to be dedicated to the community, but it never happened.
According to Bolson, the park has been vacant since 1994, when the homeowners' lease expired. Kamehameha Schools offered another lease to the homeowners that involved maintenance and liability insurance of the land. But homeowners declined to renew their lease, Bolson said.
Councilwoman Barbara Marshall, meanwhile, has been working with Kamehameha Schools and homeowners to come up with a solution.
"We're hopeful that we can work something out and meet their concerns," Bolson said. "The school itself will not take up the whole two acres."
Residents stressed that they do not oppose the preschool, only the development of the preserved land.