January 1996 Home   Newsletters

February 1996

March 1996

President's Message (Suzanne Meisenzahl)
Vote Counts Cancelled (Arlene Ellis)
Report of the Membership Recruitment Committee (Grace Furukawa)
League on "Oahu Speaks" Special
Cheryl Soon to Speak at P&Z Committee Meeting (Astrid Monson)
Testimony on Bill Relating to Development Agreements
State News - House Committee on Finance: Taxation
Court Monitoring Project Underway
National News - Challenge to National Voter Registration Act
Action Call
Condolences
Many Voices One Vision
Membership
Annual United Nations Wrap-Up (insert) (Margery Cohen)

Cheryl Soon, Chief Planning Officer to Speak at Planning and Zoning Committee Meeting

Members of the Planning and Zoning Committee and all others interested – will receive a briefing from Cheryl Soon, the City's Chief Planning Officer, at its next meeting, Monday, February 26, at noon. We have asked Cheryl to bring us up-to-date on the Planning Department's progress with the "Development Plan Revision Program" started in 1993 to carry out the Charter amendments adopted in 1992 to reform the development plan and zoning process by preparing conceptual schemes for implementing the General Plan. These are supposed to describe the desired urban character of various parts of the island to serve as a policy guide for more detailed zoning maps and regulations and public and private investment decisions. This differs from the previous practice, in which the development plans were, essentially, merely maps showing sites and projects approved for development.

The first areas to be undertaken were the two where development pressures were the greatest – Ewa and Central Oahu. The Ewa Plan is completed and the Central Oahu one is nearing completion. These two areas, between them, are expected to accommodate some 70% of the island's expected growth in the next 20 years. The next area on the plan revision schedule are the Primary Urban Center – in process – and East Honolulu – not yet begun. The relationship of the latter to the Bishop settlement process and consent decree will, of course, be discussed.

Early drafts of the Ewa and Central Oahu plans were presented for public discussion in July, 1995. Like many other agencies and organizations, League was asked to comment, which we did – in some detail – in a letter dated August 28. We understand that the Planning Department received some 61 such commentaries, which by no means showed general agreement. The staff, we understand, took as many of these as possible into consideration when formulating the recommended plans now being made available to the City Council, the Planning Commission, and the general public for review and adoption.

We invite all interested Leaguers to attend and bring their friends.

Astrid Monson
Chair, Planning & Zoning

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