Community takes action to preserve Lualualei ag land
'Wai?anae: K? I Ka Pono, K??? I Ka Hewa' video brings a message of preservation
A video titled “Wai?anae: K? I Ka Pono, K??? I Ka Hewa” by Ka Makani Kaiaulu ‘o Wai’anae explores first hand testimony about the further industrialization of Oahu and the loss of historic, cultural lands. Ka Makani Kaiaulu ‘o Wai’anae is a training institute for youth from the Wai’anae coast to learn about environmental justice and community organizing skills.
The Wai’anae Environmental Justice Working Group is also gathering signatures that call for the preservation of cultural and agricultural resources on the Wai’anae Coast.
The petition and further information on proposed development in Wai’anae can be found here.
The Land Use Commission is hearing testimony about Tropic Land LLC’s request to rezone agricultural land in Lualualei for industrial use. A hearing took place on Thursday, September 9 in Kapolei then continues in Honolulu on Friday, September 10 at 9:00 a.m. at Leiopapa A Kamehameha, 235 S. Beretania Street in Conference Room 405, Fourth Floor. Testimony can also be submitted to the Land Use Commission via email to Chair Devens at [email protected].
From KAHEA.org:
* In 2009, Wai‘anae Coast residents updated their “Community Sustainability Plan,” which states that all future urban development “shall not be allowed to intrude into the Agricultural area” and instead should be focused along the highway.
* Despite this strong language, the plan today contains two possible maps, one that preserves current agricultural lands, and one with a random industrial zone (a big purple spot) in the middle of green Lualualei valley.
* Why a purple spot? The purple spot paves the way for developers to put an industrial park on agricultural land deep in Lualualei Valley, next to farms and homes, and not along the highway where the plan itself says it should go.
* This purple spot will allow the developers to use this fertile agricultural land for any kind of industrial use—including another landfill—and limit the ability of residents to contest whatever developers decide to do inside the purple spot.