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Aina Haina
wedding biz
still disputed

Supporters say a historic home
would be put to good use;
opponents fear traffic

By Ian Lind
Star-Bulletin

Three dozen supporters and opponents of a proposed commercial wedding business in a historic Aina Haina residence clashed at a public hearing held by the Department of Planning and Permitting.

Supporters at yesterday's hearing praised the proposal as a reasonable and well-planned way to preserve a bit of Hawaii's past. They suggested opponents are insincere in their stated objections and have relied on "inflammatory language and scare tactics."

Opponents branded the proposed project a "wedding mill" that would sacrifice neighborhood traffic safety for the personal financial gain of its owners.

The caustic comments have been aired in several earlier public hearings during what has become a three-year effort by Bayer Estate LLC to get approval for its wedding business.

"It's the third time I've testified," said attorney Mark Ito, a supporter of the Bayer proposal. "It's been an incredibly tortured procedure."

The proposal has been controversial because commercial operations are outlawed in residential areas, but Bayer Estate is trying to take advantage of a state law that allows nonconforming uses of historic buildings.

The Bayer proposal was initially approved by the city in 1998 following an initial set of public hearings, and was upheld last year by the Zoning Board of Appeals following its public hearings.

But a ruling by Judge Allene Suemori early this year in a lawsuit brought by a neighbor sent the matter back to the city for further evaluation of the project's traffic impacts and community benefits.

Susan Mirikitani, managing partner of Bayer Estate, was present but did not testify. Her husband, attorney Richard Mirikitani, said they have spent more than a year working with the Department of Transportation Services to assure safe vehicle access to the property, located on a busy stretch of Kalanianaole Highway.

Julian Ng, an engineer and traffic consultant hired by the estate, said the wedding business would have no significant impact on existing traffic compared to that of Calvary-by-the-Sea Lutheran Church next door, which hosts its own unrestricted wedding business along with a preschool, a thrift shop, several service organizations and religious activities.

The Bayer Estate would be allowed four weddings a day, between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., six days a week, under conditions of the project's initial approval.

Gregg Kashiwa, a real estate development consultant and longtime resident of a nearby home, said: "We praise the effort of the Mirikitani family in preserving the historic property, but the particular use proposed would bring so much traffic to our neighborhood, which is already heavily impacted. I think it's a great threat to the community."

But representatives of several historical preservation organizations urged support for the Mirikitanis' efforts.

"Its preservation alone is per se an important public benefit," said David Scott, director of the Historic Hawaii Foundation.

Don Hibbard, head of the state Historic Preservation Division, said both state law and the state constitution consider preservation of historic properties like the Bayer Estate "in the public interest and for the public good."

Rep. David Stegmaier, a Democrat representing the Hawaii Kai area, urged hearings officer Eileen Mark not to be "swayed by one hired expert or another."

Mark said testimony gathered would be compiled and submitted to Planning Director Randy Fujiki for a final decision.