East Oahu cemetery
soil work set to startErosion and traffic are
still concerns for some
Hawaii Kai residents
Construction of a 69-acre cemetery in Hawaii Kai's Kamilonui Valley is expected to begin tomorrow, when crews will start bringing in nearly 2,000 truckloads of soil to be packed 2 to 4 feet deep over the site's rocky ground.
It has taken four years for the cemetery to move from being a proposal to a viable project -- a process that has included several public hearings and a change of ownership.
Some Hawaii Kai residents still are not convinced that Paradise Memorial Park will not increase traffic in the area or pose a runoff hazard when rainwater flows through the valley downstream to nearby farm lots and Hawaii Kai Marina.
But within two months, planners hope to be selling plots. And burials could be taking place at the cemetery as early as January.
Once the memorial park is completed -- after 50 years and between three and five phases -- the cemetery is expected to have room enough for 60,000 plots and niches.
The cemetery's initial phase, which will take between five and seven years, includes plans to service at least 13,000.
Cemetery officials said it is still too early to put sales prices on the various plots, memorial and niches. Private family mausoleums, though, are expected to carry a $1 million price tag and be built as they are requested.
Alexander Causey, the park's construction manager, said he envisions the cemetery as a "permanent green space" in the valley. He said the park could even become an attraction for residents, who would be able to walk the grounds during operating hours and access a trail at the rear of the site.
"This is going to look a lot like (the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at) Punchbowl," Causey said, "with nice seating areas, trees and gazebos."
The first phase of the project, which carries a tab of $30 million, includes construction of a roadway, chapel, mortuary and 60-space parking lot on about 15 acres in the back of the valley.
Jennifer Mack Urquhart, marketing director for Chicago-based development company PRM Realty Group, said traffic in the area would likely increase by about 250 cars daily when the cemetery is fully operational.
The group is one of the cemetery's several local investors and is also acting as its developer and asset manager.
The cemetery site was originally owned by KAMVAL LLC, whose executives brought the park's proposal to the community and won City Council approval in 2001 to receive subdivision gradings and city building permits despite opposition. The parcel was sold last year for $7.5 million.
Residents have approached Causey and other cemetery representatives with concerns about the project's possible construction noise, especially from the truckloads of dirt that will be carted almost daily for at least two months.
"We're trying to minimize the disturbance," Urquhart said. "The sooner we get this first phase of the work done, the better for everybody."
Also, some Hawaii Kai residents say the memorial park will noticeably increase traffic in the area and affect the valley's natural rainwater flow.
The valley's ground is rocky, so topsoil will be brought in to build up the ground and allow for burials, Causey said. To guard against landslides, the land will be packed tightly and terraced.
He said the probability of dirt loosening after a heavy rain and running downstream is "like being hit in the head with a meteorite. It's the same likelihood."
Elizabeth Reilly, a founding member of the Livable Hawaii Kai Hui, which was formed earlier this year in response to concerns about development in East Oahu, remains skeptical.
"It still raises concern for residents because of the flooding situation in the valley," she said. "Why would anyone want to build a cemetery in a valley that's predominately rock and clay?"
Reilly said those who live in homes near the park have additional concerns as well, ranging from the cemetery's proposed street lighting to a loss of crosswind ventilation from black dust screens that were put up several months ago at the site.
