October 1999 Home   Newsletters

December, 1999

January 2000

Annual General Membership Meeting
President's Message - Our Planning Meeting (Grace Furukawa)
New Members / Contributions
Planning Committee Report
Transportation - Here We Are Again! (Arlene Ellis)
Energy for the Millennium Conference (Grace Furukawa)
Waahila Powerline Issue Is Due to Thinking Small (Grace Furukawa)

Planning Committee Report

Representatives of the LWVs Planning Committee and Honolulu area neighborhood boards met with representatives of the City's Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) on October 2 to discuss community concerns pertaining to the City's propose Primary Urban Center Development Plan (PUC DP). Key concerns include the following:

  • the plans questionable projection of a population increase of 70,000 people in Honolulu as carried forward from population figures of 1990, which were higher than todays;
  • the policy question of acceptable, sustainable growth and the limitations of Oahu's finite water resources;
  • the introduction of liberalizated mixed use, flexible development standards, and higher densities throughout Honolulu's communities;
  • the absence of a current housing analysis;
  • the socio-economic costs of redevelopment to small businesses and residents;
  • the proposal to reduce parking space requirements in building so that development will be less costly for the developer;
  • the lack of justification for a proposed Redevelopment Authority that exercises powers of eminent domain for the taking of private properties to consolidate them for redevelopment into larger projects, such as urban villages;
  • the proposal to expand highcapacity transit corridors, LRT (light rail transit), and hotels of up to 50 rooms throughout Honolulu's communities;
  • and the proposal to construct 500-room hotels within a quarter-mile radius around the Convention Center, along the Ala MoanaDowntown corridor, and along the waterfront.

Following this meeting, the DPP scheduled two public workshops on the proposed PUC DP They were on November 24 (Thanksgiving Eve) at Washington Intermediate School in central Honolulu, and on November 30 at Liholiho Elementary School in Kaimuki.

In view of these dates, the LWVs Planning Committee recommends additional community meetings with ample notice following the holidays. The LWV's Honolulu Board voted unanimously to sponsor a meeting, and the Committee is working with neighborhood boards and community groups to encourage full public participation.

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