KANEWAI SPRING & PAIKO RIDGE

Next Sunday, October 28, you're invited to Hāwea Heiau Talk-Story #7 with guest presenter Chris Cramer! Who better to learn from about fishponds and springs of Maunalua than the president of the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center? Last year, Chris and the MFHC `ohana officially purchased Kānewai Spring for conservation and restoration. They continue to share their mana`o about loko i`a, water quality, marine life and more with the community. Be sure to check out the flyer for details!

Aloha Friends,

Kānewai Spring needs your help. Over the last six years, through your support and efforts, Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center has successfully revitalized Kānewai Spring in Kuli`ou`ou. Once nearly stagnant and overgrown, Kānewai Spring is now teeming with native plants and fish.  Every day it feeds thousands of gallons of fresh spring water into Kānewai Fishpond, Paikō Lagoon, and ultimately Maunalua Bay. This would not have been possible without the help of community members like you who volunteer to nurture this unique place. The Kānewai Spring property is currently under contract to MFHC for sale.  We've been working hard with the Trust for Public Land to raise funds to complete the purchase and permanently protect the Spring with a conservation easement for the community's health and benefit. We only have $53,000 left of our $2.65 million goal, but we need it by May 31st! 
 
Will you join us in preserving one of O'ahu's precious freshwater springs by making a gift today? Learn more and donate online at www.kanewaispring.org or send a check payable to the Trust for Public Land and mail it to: 
 
Trust for Public Land 
c/o Kānewai Spring 
1003 Bishop Street, #740 
Honolulu, HI 96813

5-7-17 Sunday Afternoon Field Trip to Kanewai Spring

Paiko Ridge - Outside the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB)

 

6-13-15 UPDATE

Update on Kalapa o Maua aka Paikō Ridge  

 

Aloha mai kākou!  

Over the past three years, Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui and The Trust for Public Land have been in talks with the landowner of Ka Lapa O Maua (Paikō Ridge) about the possibility of a sale of the 340-acre property to our community organization Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui for conservation of this amazing historic, cultural and natural landscape for our community.  The Hui has been looking out for the fate of the ridge for nearly 10 years when the first threats of development on the ridge were raised.  In these past three years, the Hui and The Trust for Public Land have worked with the City to raise a majority of the necessary funds to purchase the land. However, the landowner is continuing to explore all options for the ridge and those City funds that the Hui and The Trust for Public Land raised will expire this month. 

While the purchase of the property is no longer an option, the Hui and The Trust for Public Land remain very interested in the purchase of a conservation easement restricting development from the landowner of Kalapa o Maua, to preserve the ridge's moku boundary wall, other Hawaiian cultural sites, native plants, and the ridge's natural beauty.  The Hui and The Trust for Public Land will continue to work diligently with the landowner with the hopes of securing a conservation easement to restrict development and protect our cultural sites for our community.  We want to say mahalo to all of you caring community members for your support of the Hui's efforts to keep this ridge in its natural, undeveloped state. 
 
We are all grateful to be part of a community that cares so deeply about its special places and cultural and natural resources, and we will continue to keep in touch when there are any updates to report. 
 
Mahalo piha,
 
Jeannine Johnson (Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui Board Member)
Ann Marie Kirk (Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui Board Member)
Elizabeth Reilly (Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui President)
Laura Kaakua (The Trust for Public Land)

 

2-8-15 UPDATE 

Aloha mai kākou,

We hope this email finds you and all of your families well. Over the past eight years, Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui has been working to preserve Kalapa o Maua aka Paikō Ridge to protect what we believe, and Hawaiian cultural practitioners have shared with us, is its moku boundary wall, other Hawaiian cultural sites, native plants, and the ridge’s natural beauty. We want to say mahalo to all of you community members who have made your strong wishes known to the Hui to keep this ridge in its natural, undeveloped state.

Over the past three years, Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui and The Trust for Public Land have been in talks with the landowner about the possibility of a sale of the 340-acre property to our community organization for conservation of this amazing historic area for our community.

The Hui and The Trust for Public Land have worked with the City to raise a majority of the necessary funds, although we will need to raise more in the future, to finalize the purchase of the property.

However, at this time the landowner is still exploring all of its options including the possibility of residential development. Some of you may have seen land surveyors on the property over the holidays, which is part of the landowner's information gathering efforts as the landowner considers its various options.

The Trust for Public Land and Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui have remained in constant contact with the landowner and have communicated the strong community wish to have the entire Kalapa o Maua property put into conservation.

The Hui and The Trust for Public Land are hoping to hear from the landowner this Spring to see if we can reach a deal for the property.

The Hui and The Trust for Public Land have been guided by community on this important project and we continue to work diligently to make it a reality.

We will keep you up to date on our progress to secure the property. So that we may continue to provide you with updates on the protection of Kalapa o Maua, please provide us with your mailing address and phone number. The information you provide will remain private and used exclusively for this community-driven initiative.

We remain grateful to be part of a community that cares so deeply about its special places, and cultural and natural resources.

Mahalo piha,

Ann Marie Kirk (Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui Board Member)
Elizabeth Reilly (Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui President)
Jeannine Johnson (Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui Cultural & Natural Resource Preservation Committee Member)
Laura Kaakua (The Trust for Public Land, Native Lands Project Manager)

10-6-12 The County’s Clean Water and Natural Lands Commission awarded Livable Hawaii Kai Hui and the Trust for Public Land $3.5 million in funding to purchase Ka Lapa O Mana or Paiko Ridge in East Honolulu. The Commissioners agreed that the ancient wall that runs magnetic north the entire length of the Ridge to the Ko'olau should be preserved as it may be the last moku boundary wall on O'ahu. The City Council and the Mayor must still approve this funding, but we’re off to a fantastic start!

 

 

Here is an update on Paiko Ridge and the Hui's recent work. Please note we are looking for opportunities to present more information about this interesting potential land project and ask if you would like to host a gathering in your home. We have done four so far and would like to meet with more residents throughout Maunalua and including Kahala as to their thoughts about our findings and consideration to plow more resources towards possibly protecting the Paiko Ridge lands from any future development. If interested please contact Ann Marie or Jeannine as per the attached flyer (SEE PDF BELOW). The power point presentation takes 20 minutes.

Paiko Ridge Fact Sheet.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [8.5 MB]

On 6-8-12 a meeting was held by LHKH to update news and concerns regarding the Paiko Ridge Parcels.  These lands are located above the ancient fishpond areas along Kalanianaole Highway. Pictured below are: Jeannine Johnson, Elizabeth Reilly, and Councilman Stanley Chang....More to follow.

2011 PAIKO RIDGE SUMMARY (See Document below)

Paiko Ridge Summary.pptx
Microsoft Power Point presentation [3.1 MB]

 

Paikō Ridge, the ridge between Niu and Kuli‘ou‘ou Valleys, was recently bought at auction in foreclosure proceedings by the lender for $4,450,000. In an attempt to lure investors to hold off foreclosure, Paikō Ridge Partners, LLC of San Ramone, California advertised the sale of homes in the $1M-$9M on ¾ to 1-½ acre lots in a Hawai‘i Loa type grand gated development in its Sanctuary at Paiko Ridge - Honolulu's most elite address:

 

"The property has benefited from its "Conservation" designation by the State of Hawaii, which has prohibited development of the parcels. However, there is a great demand for housing, especially at the extreme "high-end" luxury segment of the market and the current business and political climate appear to be favorable for zoning and permitting."

Livable Hawai‘i Kai Hui disputes this statement and we, as a community, must preserve this “open space fabric” as defined in our East Honolulu Sustainble Communities Plan (link is below) and hold the urban growth boundary line and prohibit continuous sprawl. The 337+ acres on Paikō Ridge are Conservation lands currently designated P-1 Restricted Preservation under the Land Use Ordinance, have a history of rock falls and landslide hazards which pose a safety risk for residential neighborhoods located below. Construction run-off from hundreds of homes will also have a devastating impact on the Paikō Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary directly below. These multi-million dollar mansions will overburden our degrading sewer infrastructure, create a greater demand on our limited resources such as fresh water and electricity, impact our already overloaded traffic, and effectively destroy one of the last remaining undeveloped ridges in East Honolulu.07.88

 

Click on: www.honoluludpp.org/Planning/DevSust_EastHonolulu.asp to view maps of the Urban boundaries and choose [map A-1 open spaces] or [map A-2 urban land use].

 


Posted on: June 30, 2006 By
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
-Suzanne Roig

 

Residents Opppse Idea to develope Paiko Ridge parcel

 

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060630/NEWS01/606300369/1190/NEWS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on: May 16, 2006


URBAN SPRAWL


WHAT MADE HENRY ENG CHANGE HIS POSITION ON CHARTER COMMISSION LAND USE PROPOSALS?

I echo the sentiment and question rose in the Advertiser's May 15th Letter to the Editor "Charter Panel Ignored Voice of the People" and raise another vital question.


What made Henry Eng, director of the Planning and Permitting Department; rapidly change his support of the planning and zoning proposals before the Charter Commission at the May 10 meeting?

I was one of the many who counted on the director's testimony (the most recent being in late March) in-support of measures to stop urban sprawl via proposals establishing urban growth boundaries and targeting city council ala "the super majority" vote for specified zone changes. How is it possible that in the final stretch of deliberating the fate of all the planning and zoning proposals before the Charter Commission for the November 2006 ballot, Mr. Eng changes his mind not once but for each and every planning and zoning proposal? Who did Mr. Eng speak with and what does this say about our leadership and the future growth of our fragile island?

Evangeline Yacuk, Honolulu



 


 

Posted on: May 16, 2006

DEVELOPMENT


CHARTER PROPOSAL WOULD HAVE HELPED

Kudos to the 2005-2006 Charter Commission for killing Proposal 47, establishing urban growth boundaries and agricultural protection zones on O'ahu.

I can't wait for greedy developers to build all along Kalaniana'ole Highway, from the Pali all the way to the first visible homes now located at Olomana.

All those obnoxious pines, ironwoods and lush ferns would be replaced with fences or graffiti-covered walls and, best of all, rocks set in concrete that will eventually develop beautiful perennial weeds.

Thankfully, Kawai Nui Marsh will finally be dredged, ridding the island of those ugly birds and then filled in so every single square inch will be surrounded by expensive "waterfront" homes.

The city and state will subsequently pay millions when those homes flood after heavy rains. The traffic lights every 200 feet will never be synchronized, making traffic truly unbearable. The sewers will constantly break and spill raw sewage until the city has to put it up above ground for several years until it can deal with the degrading sewer infrastructure.

Don't think it can happen? In 50 years, Kalaniana'ole Highway in East Honolulu went from a three-lane highway (one lane was for turning) leading to pig and cattle farms, a dairy and fishponds, to the congested six lanes leading to 50,000 homes today.

It's high time we shared our lower quality of life, traffic congestion, overcrowded and unplanned suburban sprawl with the rest of O'ahu, and the Charter Commission made sure of it.

Jeannine Johnson
Niu Valley

 



 

Posted on: Monday, May 15, 2006

Letters to the Editor

URBAN SPRAWL

CHARTER PANEL IGNORED 'VOICE OF THE PEOPLE'

Is the City Charter the voice of the people? In your May 10 editorial "Some planned charter changes miss the mark" you wrote, "Honolulu's citizens have a strong environmental and conservation ethic, and it is proper to recognize this philosophy to some degree in the City Charter."

You know this, we know this but apparently the Charter Commission does not.

In fact, they (excluding three enlightened commissioners) completely missed the mark at the May 10, eight-hour-long meeting where they passed only one of 10 planning, zoning and environmental proposals.

This means the people of Honolulu will not have the chance at the November elections to vote on measures designed to protect us from urban sprawl.

We reminded the Charter Commission that this is an island environment with finite land. And we testified as to the challenges we face in East Honolulu regarding protecting our urban growth boundary from shifting prematurely to accommodate a housing development in Kamilo Nui Valley and another on Paiko Ridge.

Despite these facts, not a single, vital urban growth boundary proposal passed! So we ask, is the charter the voice of the people?

Tai Hong
Hawai'i Kai

Elizabeth Reilly

Hawai'i Kai


HONOLULU

IT'S A QUESTION OF BALANCE - by Charles H. Palumbo

PLANNING A SUSTAINABLE O'AHU

We are enjoying great times here on O'ahu. The tourists are flocking, the military keeps coming, and investors continue to spend billions of dollars on speculative development. Things are great, so far.

What we need to understand — beyond politicians trying to take credit for stimulating our economy and bringing business to the state — is that Hawai'i, her people and natural beauty are the things that keep people coming and dollars flowing. Developers, Realtors, politicians and unions need to understand the lure of Hawai'i is affected by every poor choice in development we allow to happen.

If we can all agree on that, then something can be done. The first thing is to stop building outside of the boundaries established for urban growth. By denying the constant pressure to develop virgin land on our ridges and agricultural lands for single-family tract and luxury housing we are moving toward a consciousness that will sustain the beauty and attractiveness of our island.

Rich people are urban-friendly and buy homes within our city, as clearly proven by sold- out highrise developments along Ala Moana Boulevard. All of us can live within the boundaries as established by our government.

No matter who owns the lands they are our collective asset. We as a community must strive to ensure that conservation, preservation and agricultural lands remain intact for the future viability of our county and state. Better use of existing lands within the urban growth boundary is key to the success of retaining the natural beauty.

There is an ongoing argument that we don't need all of our agricultural land. Who is to say that Hawaiian agriculture will never be central to our sustainability? Doesn't it make sense to retain possibly the best agricultural lands in the world in perpetuity? As we move toward greater uncertainty in energy resources, food quality and political climate, I would argue that retention of our fertile agricultural lands could be the greatest strategic asset we possess today.

Taking care of Hawai'i's people is another issue that is sorely being neglected. The happy-go-lucky attitude and easy way of life that I grew up with in Honolulu and on Lana'i are no longer the "Hawaiian style."

We rush around in huge luxury gas guzzlers wearing Italian designer shoes and yakking incessantly on the little cell phone on our ear, rarely taking time to lift our heads from the feeding bag long enough to see how the rest of O'ahu's people are doing.

There is also a huge group of 20- and 30-somethings who have grown up in Honolulu, want to stay in Honolulu, but have little chance of home ownership in today's market because there is not enough inventory being built in town for those unwilling to face the hell of commuting from the sprawl of Central O'ahu.

We need to focus our development appetite toward in-town projects for the real people that personify Hawai'i. By turning the heads of developers fixated on our preservation, conservation and agricultural lands back toward urban Honolulu we can start to remedy the disparity in housing inventory and give a glimmer of hope to those that need a place to live. Compassion can be profitable.

Investment capital and resources to build are finite. Urban growth within the boundaries established is the solution for sustainable development in Honolulu.

We need the tools through tax incentives and new development guidelines to attract dollars to rebuild Honolulu with appropriate mass transit, police, fire, power, waste, communication infrastructure developed in unison.

We also need visionary, credible, intelligent and honest leadership in office and civil service to shut the door on speculative development and stop the destruction of our remaining ridge and agricultural assets to ensure the things that keep people coming and enjoying Honolulu County are never lost.

Charles H. Palumbo
Architect,
Honolulu

Hawaii Reporter
Freedom to Report Real News

Save the Green Mountains of Paiko Ridge
Development Threatens Untouched Ridge in East Honolulu
By Gayle G. Carr,

5/8/2006 10:05:23 AM


Paiko Ridge Partners or, "a new buyer" should give up any future attempts to develop the Paiko Ridge, similar to Hawaii Loa and why? There is too much overwhelming power to SAVE THE AINA.


There are too many negative factors that present themselves like Community Opposition, Falling Boulders, and Heath issues that relate to the Sewer System that is all messed up. In this area the waste goes to Sand Island, a long trip and when the lines are broken there is no alternative route there.
Other environmental groups will be for protecting the Aina, it‚s only a matter of time, and what about Livability? It goes down along with everything else. Especially for the frustrated drivers of East Honolulu which will result in more community opposition towards the City.


For many decades our political leaders have said that they would like to improve Traffic but it only gets worse and does not look like it will ever improve.
Our advisors in Washington DC said to have area legislators commit themselves publicly on all of the above. Our Sustainable plan would require amending to include the Paiko parcels to be within the Urban Growth Boundaries.


The Land Use Commission has gone along with the City in the past. The City Council has already passed a resolution to maintain the UGB where it is for East Honolulu, (Resolution 04-198), so why do the developers keep trying to pave our wilderness?


Once again, as history repeats itself the Developers will make promises to the City, visit the local Neighborhood Boards and try to make the community think they will work with them....It never happens, plans change once they get the go ahead, and affordable housing is just a tactic to get approval.....something is very wrong here.


Only you can make a difference. Please attend your monthly Neighborhood Board meetings because they are your link to having your voice heard. Help put a stop to this urban sprawl.


Gayle G. Carr, a resident of Hawaii Kai

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