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Gathering Place
Alan Arakawa |
New homes help local
families live their dreamKioni Dudley, Makakilo resident and president of Friends of Makakilo, recently demanded a moratorium on new housing construction (Gathering Place, May 25). His position is based on misstatements of fact about Castle & Cooke's Makakilo plans.
Dudley's demand is: Don't build more homes in Makakilo until all our problems are solved. A simplistic "stop growth" demand does not productively deal with the complexities and reality of community growth and does little to solve anything.
Castle & Cooke is proud to be investing in Hawaii and the Makakilo community. As new members of the Makakilo community, we conducted four informational meetings with neighbors, community groups and the neighborhood board to ensure that we were sensitive to community concerns and that our project could benefit and contribute to this vibrant community. We commissioned archaeological and botanical surveys to mitigate any potential for harm. We have been working closely with the Department of Education to ensure school issues are addressed. We will spend $4.3 million to extend Makakilo Drive nearly 3,000 feet closer to the interchange that will eventually be built at the H-1 freeway (originally a public project), because nearly everyone in the community wants a second access point to and from Makakilo. We also will contribute $500,000 toward regional transportation improve- ments. These are not solutions to all issues, but they are very real efforts that address legitimate concerns.
Responsible planning decisions accommodate the needs of the entire community, including the need for housing for more than just those who have already moved into the neighborhood. Dudley's concerns are neither new nor unique to Hawaii. A community's infrastructure grows to meet the demands placed on it, and that is happening in the Makakilo/ Kapolei area.
Castle & Cooke's Makakilo site has been fully entitled for housing for nearly 25 years -- long before Dudley's home and neighborhood were built. If Makakilo residents who preceded Dudley had stopped further development then, he would not have his large home on Palehua Point that sits above our site. Dudley's demands sound like he does not want anyone else to use "his" streets and schools.
Limiting the number of new houses would increase the shortage of homes available for young, local families pursuing their dream of owning a home. Demand for homes already exceeds supply, explaining in part the soaring home prices in Hawaii. Stopping further homes will put home ownership on Oahu out of reach for many families and contribute to the out-migration of young families forced to pursue their dreams on the mainland.
Castle & Cooke is proud to be providing families like Dudley's the opportunity and dream of living in a nice home in a great community. These families will be his new neighbors, just as he was once a new neighbor in a growing community.
Alan Arakawa is senior vice president of Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii, Inc.