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Marchers protest
Hanauma Bay
development

An East Honolulu group
is against new buildings
along the bay's upper rim

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Hanauma means "arm wrestling" in Hawaiian, and that's exactly what protesters and the city are doing over the bay.

Marchers armed with ti leaves took to the shoulder of busy Kalanianaole Highway and marched to Hanauma Bay yesterday in protest against the city's latest redevelopment plan.

"The city wants to turn it into a major tourist event like Disney with turnstiles, and we're saying no, no, no. This is Hawaii," said Bob Ackerson, a member of East Honolulu Community Coalition and Hawaii Kai resident.

The protesters oppose any new buildings along the upper rim but favor improvements to the restrooms and snack bar, he said.

The march surprised city officials, who thought they had satisfied residents with a stripped-down plan. It calls for a building on the upper rim of about 10,000 square feet to house offices, a museum and an educational center.

"The mayor's frustrated. There's been a tremendous amount of compromise," said Cynthia Bond, deputy director of the city Department of Human Resources and a Hawaii Kai resident. "I'm disappointed that people feel they haven't been heard. We put so much effort into this."

The protest comes late in the match, Bond said. The City Council approved the city plan, 7 to 2, and the construction contract has been awarded.

The final hurdle is Thursday, when the state Board of Land and Natural Resources is scheduled to vote on the plan.

Protesters carried green ti leaves to "emphasize this is a Hawaiian issue, to protect the land as it was," said Roy Benham, a resident and member of the East Honolulu Community Coalition.

He then corrected himself: "Or at least to prevent further development."

A Hawaiian marcher named Naia, who has legally dropped her last name, said, "It's important to the Hawaiian community, but it's also important to everybody.

"Even though locals don't go there in the numbers they used to, it's reached a point where we say enough," she said.

Friends of Hanauma Bay, a volunteer organization supporting the preserve, supports the city.

"The nature preserve needs the new facility to educate the public on marine conservation and reef etiquette," said Friends' president Richard Baker.

"Friends of Hanauma Bay believe the increased educational facility is sufficiently important and necessary. It makes the plan acceptable. I would have been delighted if everyone in the community supported the plan," Baker said, "but that's unrealistic. There were too deeply held feelings of mistrust of the city."

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http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us