Residents oppose
development near
surf spot

Many want a city
park there instead

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By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

More than 20 North Shore residents have spoken against a proposed subdivision fronting a premier surfing spot, and are urging the city to build a park there instead.

At a public hearing yesterday in Sunset Beach, most residents criticized the access that the public would have to the Velzyland surf spot and Kaunala Bay beach, possible sewage problems and a proposed 1,700-foot wall they said would obliterate ocean views along Kamehameha Highway.

About 150 people who attended the hearing, held by the City Department of Planning and Permitting, supported those who testified with loud cheers and applause. Members of the North Shore Neighborhood Board, Outdoor Circle and Life of the Land, the Surfrider Foundation and Friends of Velzyland were among those who spoke against the project.

Developer D.G. "Andy" Anderson is asking for a Special Management Area Use Permit to subdivide 19.1 acres on the Kahuku side of Sunset Point into 29 home lots for a gated subdivision.

Moot Ah Quin, born and raised in the area, protested most strongly to the idea of a gated community.

"Walls are built to keep people out and keep the people inside safe, which means they have to be kept safe from us, the people in the community," Ah Quin said. "It means the people who buy these million-dollar lots think they are above us. ... We have to keep from seeing our community divided against itself and keep country, country."

Anderson, who attended the hearing but did not present testimony, said most of the comments were "inaccurate" and were made by people who were to be evicted from the property. There are 43 apartments that will be torn down to make way for the project.

The tenants "pay only $300-$500 a month rent and have a 20-acre backyard view of Velzyland. I would grumble, too," he said.

 With the two public access ways he plans to donate to the city, "Velzyland will be open to the public legally for the first time," he said.

Anderson is also giving 1.4 acres to the city for a road that will lead to Waialee Beach Park, where the city will build a parking lot, he said.

It is only a 75- to 100-foot walk from the beach. Currently beach users and surfers have to park on the highway, where speeding traffic makes it dangerous, and trespass 600 to 700 feet to get to the beach, he said.

Cora Majek-Sanchez, head of Friends of Velzyland, presented petitions with hundreds of signatures to the department, along with letters from the community.

She said the project is in violation of the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan, which earmarks Kaunala Bay for a public park.

There are 10 more days for the public to submit written comment, which can be faxed to 527-6743.

The department will make its recommendation to the City Council, which will hold more hearings before making a final decision on the permit.