KAILUA, Hawaii (AP) - Nearly all of the residents who spoke at a Department of Land and Natural Resources hearing opposed plans for a landowner to build a house on 37 acres of conservation land in windward Oahu.
Seventy-five people largely from the Kailua Bluffs neighborhood attended the public hearing Wednesday, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (https://bit.ly/1CCInJw ).
Of the 18 residents who spoke, 17 urged the land department to oppose Dawn Horn’s request to build the 2,600-square-foot home on her property between Enchanted Lake and Bellows Air Force Station.
“The development does not serve the public interest nor benefit the community,” said Andrea Galvin, a Kailua Bluffs resident who submitted a petition endorsed by 350 opponents of the project.
David Gion, a friend of Horn’s and a 30-year Kailua resident, was her sole vocal supporter at the meeting. He said Horn and her husband, Matt, are kind people.
“They are Kailua people,” he said. “They are community people.”
Gion suggested that much opposition to Horn’s proposed home stems from neighbors who are disgruntled that they had to stop using parts of her land that they had improperly annexed.
Friction over Horn’s application led the department to hold the public hearing. Typically with such permits there is only one public hearing held by the Board of Land and Natural Resources after it receives a staff recommendation that takes written public comments into account.
The department received more than 50 written comments - mostly negative - about the proposal, and the Kailua Neighborhood Board unanimously voted against the project last month.
Building a home on private conservation land is allowed under department rules if it meets certain criteria. There are a few such applications each year, though they typically don’t generate much public interest.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, https://www.staradvertiser.com
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