OUR TOP ISSUES

Maunalua Bay and the Ka Iwi Coast highlight the scenic East Oahu region

1: Planned development consistent with the East Honolulu Sustainable Communities Plan. The plan maintains an appropriate balance of urban and rural areas. In particular, the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board supports and promotes the perpetuation of the agricultural-zoned lands in Kamiloiki Valley and behind Kaiser High.

2: Preservation of scenic, cultural, historical, and ecological resources. HKNB has been instrumental in working alongside other community groups and individuals to block unwanted development along the Ka Iwi coastline and hillside. This included a major showdown with developers who, facing community opposition, withdrew their plan to build 180 resort cabins on the Ka Iwi hillside.

Recent HKNB involvement includes:

» Supporting the state's petition to change the designation of Ka Iwi makai lands from urban to conservation (now pending before the Land Use Commission; positive decision expected in June);

» Actively working to preserve and protect historical and culturally significant Hawaiian sites and wetlands adjacent to the Hale Alii luxury condominium project;

BOARD NO. 1         THE OFFICERS         Chairman         Greg Knudsen         Vice chairwoman         Elizabeth Reilly         Members         Frank De Giacomo, Rene Garvin, Robert Clark, Marian Grey, Carl Makino, Maxine Rutkowski, Gary Weller, Herb Schreiner, Amy Monk, David Tanabe, Aaron Isgar and Wayne Levy         TO GET INVOLVED: The board meets the last Tuesday of every month (except December) at 7 p.m. at Hahaione Elementary School. Call 768-3790, or see www.honolulu.gov/nco.

» Blocking development of multi-story structures on preservation land near Koko Crater;

» Supporting continued public use of popular hiking trails to the Koko Crater summit.

3: Delivery of fiscally responsible government services that are responsive to and respectful of the needs and will of the residents. Hawaii Kai was among the first to pilot curbside recycling.

A recent issue has been to ensure that street lighting in Hawaii Kai is appropriate for a residential—not commercial—community.

The board supports park improvements, and advocates proper services and maintenance of facilities at Hanauma Bay.

It fought to allow leashed pets at Ka Iwi Scenic Shoreline Park and the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail, and objects to state plans to charge non-resident parking fees at the lighthouse trail.

One of the board's latest actions was objecting to plans for a Honolulu Board of Water Supply base yard in Koko Head District Park.

4: Management and protection of coastal and ocean resources. The board launched a major effort to prevent shark cage tours out of Hawaii Kai, and helped extend the campaign to ban shark tours statewide.

The board also advocates public beach access, and is supportive of Malama Maunalua's efforts to replenish Maunalua Bay.

5: Quality of life issues. These relate to such issues as education, noise, safety, recreation, animal care, traffic, bicycling, pollution, commuting, shopping, recycling and maintaining the residential quality of Hawaii Kai.

SO SPECIAL

'A sense of place'

Hawaii Kai is a diverse community blessed with many distinctive features and qualities. It emerged from the vision of Henry Kaiser, who in the 1960s transformed the area into a residential and recreational showplace. Today there are excellent schools, shopping centers and comfortable homes, as well as some of the most spectacular natural resources on Oahu. While primarily a bedroom community, there is still a sense of place and that brings residents together at school and church activities, sporting events, community celebrations (such as Independence Day at Maunalua Bay, Lions Club Holiday Parade and Hawaii Kai Marina Association's Festival of Lights Boat Parade), and an all-embracing and unifying pride in being a resident here. This pride has spawned not only one of the most active neighborhood boards, but civic-minded groups with hard-working advocates.

FACTS AND FIGURES

» Population in 2009 was estimated at 30,000.

» Hawaii Kai is a prime example of the “;planned communities”; housing boom that struck the state in the mid-20th century.

» Developer Henry J. Kaiser envisioned a model city stretching from Kuliouou to Makapuu Point. Prices for the area's first homes started at $20,000.

» Prominent sites include Sandy Beach, the Ka Iwi Scenic Shoreline and Maunalua Bay.