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POSTED: Thursday, November 27, 2008
                       

This story has been corrected. See below.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority has pushed its decision on General Growth Properties' Ward Neighborhood Master Plan to January.

HCDA will hold a special meeting on Jan. 14 to decide whether or not to approve the plan, which would transform the 60 acres into a new, mixed-use urban village with up to 4,300 more residences.

The decision was pushed back from the regularly scheduled December meeting due to the need to hold a public hearing requested by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. That hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17.

The Legal Corp. submitted a request for the contested case hearing on behalf of Edward Healoha Ayau, who says he has been recognized by the Oahu Island Burial Council as a cultural descendant of iwi in the Ward area.

In an October letter hand-delivered to HCDA Executive Director Tony Ching, the Legal Corp. said Ayau has a “;distinct cultural interest to avoid irreparable harm caused by any desecration of burial sites due to future construction activity related to the proposed GGP Ward Neighborhood Master Plan.”;

Prior to any decision-making by HCDA, the Legal Corp. said an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement must be prepared, including an analysis of the plan's cultural impacts, as well as an archaeological inventory survey.

The survey should be submitted to the state historic preservation division before HCDA takes action on General Growth's application, according to Alan Murakami, the attorney for Ayau, in the letter.

Given the location and topography of the properties and recent experiences at Ward Village Shops, he said there were likely to be burial sites affected by the associated development.

“;In addition, hundreds of burial sites have been found in the Kakaako area,”; said Murakami. “;Just recently, General Growth Properties discovered over five dozen burial remains in developing its Ward Villages Shops project. Unfortunately, because of the failure to follow the procedure as we advocate in this instance, that burial site was unnecessarily disturbed, altered and harmed by construction activity.”;

The controversial six-acre project bound by Auahi, Kamakee and Queen streets, which is now nearing completion, was delayed numerous times due to iwi found at the site.

A group calling itself the Kakaako Coalition, made up of community members and small-business owners, is also calling for an environmental impact statement before any decisions are made.

HCDA has a deadline of Feb. 1 to make a decision on the Ward master plan.

 

               

     

 

 

CORRECTION         This story originally said the Hawaii Community Development Authority would hold a special meeting on Jan. 19 to make a decision on General Growth's Ward neighborhood master plan. The correct date is Jan. 14.