Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 11, 1 November 2010 — Haleʻiwa Beach Park worth saving [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Haleʻiwa Beach Park worth saving

By Mahina Chillingworth

Editor's note: Mahina ChiUingworth is Vice President of Hui O He 'e Nalu. Hie views expressed in this communityforum do notnecessarily reflect the views ofthe Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The broad support for the City safeguarding Hale'iwa Beach Park Mauka for the benefit of the puhlie is

being widely reported. The puhlie sees wisdom in properly stewarding taxpayer-owned, prime North Shore coastline in such a highly utilizedarea. Therefore, a variety of respected organizations like the Hui O He'e Nalu, Surfrider Foundation O'ahu Chapter, Sierra Club O'ahu Chapter, and Hawai'i's Thousand Friends are working together in a Coalition to protect this and other valuable puhlie heaeh parks.

The oceanfront Hale'iwa Beach Park Mauka is adjacent to a heavily used heaeh and heaeh park area (the long and wide stretch of sand from Loko Ea fishpond to the Hale'iwa War Memorial and beyond to Pua'ena Point). The action plan in the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan for this park is to "Develop Hale'iwa Beach Park Mauka as a community-based park to expand active recreational facili-

ties for North Shore residents." The park is zoned P-2 preservation land and serves as outdoor space for the public's use and enjoyment. The park is minimally improved with the exception of a very large gravel heaeh parking area (with room today for roughly 70 cars to park), an area for eanoe storage, limited signage, and several shade, coconut andpalmtrees. (Please see the aerial photo showing the extent of the impressive coastal park.) Despite these community benefits, Andy Anderson proposes to purchase and transform the City and County of Honolulu's Hale'iwa Beach Park Mauka and adjoining Jameson's By the Sea restaurant site into an 80-unit hotel/resort. A large part of this heaeh park land was purchased from Kamehameha Schools (KS) through eminent domain over four decades ago. However, Anderson has said he would not pursue his hotel/resort plans if KS is offered the land, whieh was taken from them. ( Star - Advertiser, Oct. 5, 2010) Hui O He'e Nalu is working

with the City and other community groups to adopt and steward this important park. By working with the Hui O He'e Nalu and others, the City has the ability to help support the implementation of the eommunity vision for the Hale'iwa Beach Park Mauka. Working partnerships with eommunity organizations ean support the improvement of a community park that could have more parking stalls, walkways, a safer crosswalk to the heaeh and a bike path linking with the planned bike path through Hale'iwa. This will implement the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan and could successfully set the stage for future concepts that have been highlighted by the eommunity, including a Canoe Hālau and other cultural, educational and recreational activities. In addition, this effort will be a preferable precedent for other community parks rather than selling themto private developers. You ean learn more at the Save Hale'iwa Beach Park Facebook page and at savehaleiwabeachpark.org. ■

KŪKĀKŪKĀ COMMUNITY F0RUM

Aerial view of Hale'iwa Beach Park showing parcels outiined in green Ihal the City is considering selling to Andy Anderson, who this year bought the adjoining land upon whieh Jameson's restaurant sits. Jameson's is shown at right boxed in pink,- Photo: Courtesy ofSave Hale'iwa Beach Park