Makapuu parking The Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board rejected a proposal for the first phase of the Ka Iwi State Park that includes two parking lots off Kalanianaole Highway near Makapuu.
hits roadblock
The new parking spaces are the
first step in the Ka Iwi shoreline
park plan sought by the state
By Rosemarie Bernardo
Star-BulletinChairman Charlie Rodgers, who had supported the proposal before the meeting, said after the vote that while there is a need for a parking lot, it was premature for the board to support the plan.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is seeking a special management-area-use permit to develop the first phase of the park.
Part of the proposal includes a 40-car parking lot that with space for five buses near the Makapuu Lookout and another 40-car lot built near the Makapuu Lighthouse.
An informational briefing on the state's plan for the park was presented to the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board last night at Hahaione Elementary School.Board members voted 12 to 1 against supporting the proposal.
"I think it will turn into Hanauma Bay II. Local people will lose their access. There will be 400 people crawling over Makapuu Point," said David Matthews, co-founder of the Ka Iwi Action Council.
"I think it's just too much," Hawaii Kai resident Diane Ackerson told the board. "The more they develop, the more the natural beauty is destroyed," she said.
Jody Green of Waimanalo said that building parking lots at the two sites will not alleviate the crime problem that exists along the highway. "I don't think we should go in with parking lots. We should keep it the way it is."
But the state says the parking lots are needed because there isn't enough parking now near Makapuu.
"It's a safety issue," said Clyde Hosokawa, the state parks program manager.
Daniel Quinn, assistant administrator of the state parks division, said the present situation where vehicles park along the highway is dangerous.
Kalama Valley resident G.B. Harry agreed that a new parking lot is safer. "The parking is terribly unsafe for bicyclists," he said.
Other improvements in the first phase of the park include underground utility lines and off-road vehicle barriers along the makai side of Kalanianaole Highway. The state also plans to restore a section of the "King's Highway," a roadway built by native Hawaiians before Europeans came to Hawaii. Construction is expected to start in fall 2002. Federal funds of $4.9 million had been appropriated for the first phase of the project.
The state will present the plan to the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board at 7 p.m. June 18 at the Waimanalo Elementary Library. A public hearing is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. July 17 at the Hawaii Kai Library.