Pupukea project
draws concerns

The Honu Group plans
to construct more retail
buildings near Foodland

Honolulu-based developer Honu Group Inc. has announced plans to build more retail space at a rural commercial center across from Sharks Cove in the Pupukea area of Oahu's North Shore.

The center, to be named Pupukea Village, is located between the famed surf spots of Sunset Beach and Waimea Bay and is anchored by Foodland. The new 59,000-square-foot, five-building development, which will be adjacent to Foodland, will include large shade trees, benches and outdoor eating venues. The development, although designed to be pedestrian-friendly, also will include underground parking for about 220 cars.

Construction is slated to start in early summer and wrap up by December 2006.

The 50 new businesses in the complex will include dentist offices, nonprofit organizations, exercise centers and UPS services, but there also will be opportunities for small companies that cater to tourists, said Mona Abadir, a principal with the Honu Group. There will be also be an 180-seat restaurant and space for other food and beverage establishments, which will provide an additional 100 seats, she said.

But not all members of the community are excited about the proposed new services, said Cora Sanchez, a member of the Friends of Sharks Cove, a group formed out of the Save Sunset Beach Coalition to voice concerns about the proposed development.

Tranquil country living is preserved in this North Shore neighborhood where people bicycle to the grocery store and walk to the beach -- far from busy downtown Honolulu. Community members have long opposed development. In the 1990s, the Save Sunset Beach Coalition fought rezoning agricultural land for a proposed 1,100-acre luxury home development, which was never built.

Now, the coalition is concerned that the proposed Pupukea Village will be too dense for the rural area and could bring unwanted traffic as well as sewage and water problems to Pupukea's Marine Life Conservation District, which stretches from Waimea Bay to Sharks Cove, Sanchez said.

"The parks are already overburdened on the weekends," Sanchez said. "We understand that the North Shore is the backyard of Oahu and people want to come out and enjoy the beaches and the parks, but they must be protected or visitors and residents will pay the price."

The group, which planned to send about 200 people to a North Shore Neighborhood Board meeting about the project last night, has asked Honu Group to conduct a thorough environmental impact study before proceeding.

Since the project falls within the only designated commercial area in Sunset Beach, the developers know the importance of doing it right, Abadir said. She said the Honu Group will continue meeting with the community for the next several months to consider the project's impact and finish its design.

"We want to provide opportunities for the community so that people can live and work close to home," Abadir said, adding that the project, which includes 39 retail businesses and 11 office spaces, is expected to provide about 220 jobs.