Honolulu City Council to vote on $2 million housing project

HONOLULU (AP) - Honolulu City Council members hold in their hands the fate of a $2 million housing project on the island’s north shore.

Scott Wallace, a movie theater chain owner in Hawaii, wants to redraw land-use boundaries in Haleiwa so he can develop up to 35 house lots, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (https://bit.ly/2pvBhZC ) Monday.

Wallace is interested in 7 acres of agricultural land. He claims the patch is not viable farmland and is suitable for urban development.

Wallace has been working on the project, which he plans to call Haleiwa Plantation Village, for six years. He bought the property in 2010 for $1.2 million.

The Honolulu Planning commission recently opposed Wallace’s plan and it will soon be up to the City Council to decide.

The commission’s opposition came after the city Department of Planning and Permitting supported the project. Mike Watkins, a planning and permitting official, told the commission the project is supported by city policies and aligns with the area’s existing pattern of land uses.

The opposition worries Wallace’s housing prices will not be reasonable. Some also feel the land is still useable for farming, while other residents said the land is not farmable due to an unmanageable apple snail infestation.

___

Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, https://www.staradvertiser.com