Hawaiian Memorial Expansion on Former Conservation Land
(De)Construction Begins
You’ve probably seen the clearing of trees on our hillside. This is the start of the construction phase of the development.
We have an engineer who has been reviewing the plans to ensure that Hawaiian Memorial’s design is safe and that they don’t expose our neighborhood to flooding. (Shout-out to him for volunteering his time to keep us safe!)
We’ll update as we get more information.
<Photo as of 5/11/2005 from Pohai Nani Entrance>
Complaints/Comments to Hawaiian Memorial
The Land Use Commision required Hawaiian Memorial to setup a community outreach for our community to contact Hawaiian Memorial if the neighborhood has complaints or comments that Hawaiian Memorial is not following proper construction practices.
If you have concerns that HMP is not building properly (e.g. making loud noise outside of work hours, or causing runoff, or causing pollution), you can contact HMP at:
Email: info@hmpfacts.com,
Include a copy to the Land Use Commission: dbedt.luc.web@hawaii.gov
HMP was supposed setup a communication plan to keep the neighborhood informed, but as of yet, they have done little communication. They have posted an update on ‘Tree Clearing Activities: https://www.hmpfacts.com/post/notice-of-upcoming-tree-clearing-activities
Background
Since 2007, we have been fighting against Hawaiian Memorial’s expansion on conservation land.
In 2009, the Hawaii State Land Use Commission voted to BLOCK the development.
Then in 2017, Hawaiian Memorial applied AGAIN, with different plan. Despite our efforts to block the development, on 9/23/2020, the Hawaii State Land Use Commission voted to ALLOW the development.
LUC Decision Details
Although we weren’t successful in stopping the development, we were able to successfully scale down the development, and get several community-desired changes.
Here’s some of the changes from the original submitted plan in 2009:
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There will be no housing development as part of the project
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The development size has been cut in half. Instead of extending to Pohai Nani, it will stop just after Lipalu St.
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There will be a 14 acre cultural preserve, supported by the Koolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club, with financing from HMP. The Civic Club was opposed to the original plan, but later supported the plan with the cultural preserve.
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The development will be required to hold 5 times more water on-property than currently done to help protect against flooding on the residence homes (not shown on maps)
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There will be no mausoleums as part of the development
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There will be conservation easement placed on the remainder of the property, to ensure the land can only be used for cemetery, and no other development for perpetuity
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HMP will be required to plant a tree for every tree they cut down (with trunks over 6′ diameters)
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They will help put in monitoring and supplemental water to the endangered damselfly habitat.
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There will be a 164′ buffer around the damselfly habitat
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They will setup a community hotline for residents to call during construction to handle any complaints