NOTICE OF DECEMBER 17, 2008 HEARING (click here)

PUBLIC HEARING HELD ON OCTOBER 15, 2008

On October 15, over 200 people attended a public hearing conducted by the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) to receive public comments on General Growth Properties, Inc.'s Ward Neighborhood Master Plan application.  The Authority and those in attendance listened to the testimony from 49 persons during the three hour hearing.  Support for and opposition to the master plan proposal were voiced in almost equal numbers.

General Growth Properties (GGP) is seeking approval from the HCDA for its proposed Master Plan Application.  HCDA’s Kaka'ako Mauka Area rules contain provisions for "master plans" to allow for the orderly planning and implementation of public and private development projects and provide a reasonable degree of certainty in the development approval process.

GGP's Master Plan area is centrally located in the south-eastern portion of the Kaka‘ako District and includes approximately 60 acres of land.  The Master Plan area, called the Ward Neighborhood, will be a large, mixed-use development with an emphasis on retail, office and residential uses with supportive services.  The Plan's major design objectives include provision of connected public spaces, redesign of Auahi Street as a pedestrian promenade, preservation of Mauka-Makai view corridors and an enhanced roadway network with canopy trees and pedestrian amenities.  Existing uses in the Master Plan area currently comprises 1.2 million square feet of floor area.  At full build-out, the Master Plan proposes to construct a total of 9.2 million square feet of floor area.

At the hearing, proponents of the proposed GGP master plan generally expressed their support for the plan’s proposal to produce housing units, public amenities, commercial opportunities, jobs to be created, and to reduce urban sprawl.  Opponents told the Authority that the master plan development would create more traffic congestion, blocked view planes, dislocate current businesses and they asked that an environmental impact assessment be conducted by the developer prior to any action being taken on their application.

HCDA established a broad community outreach program to receive public feedback on the Ward Neighborhood Master Plan.  The Master Plan was made available for public review through the HCDA webpage and the public was provided opportunities to comment via the Internet, by telephone, or in writing.  A postage paid comment form was also mailed out to the HCDA mailing list of about 12,000 residents, businesses, lawmakers and interested parties.  HCDA Executive Director Anthony Ching told the audience that it is anticipated that Master Plan application would come before the Authority for action during the December 2008 HCDA meeting.

A TRANSCRIPT OF THE PUBLIC HEARING (click here)

• HCDA FINDINGS REPORT ON THE GGP WARD NEIGHBORHOOD MASTER PLAN APPLICATION
  (click here)

• GGP RESPONSE TO HCDA FINDINGS REPORT (click here)

• WARD NEIGHBORHOOD MASTER PLAN AND AMENDMENT (click here)

• OFFICIAL PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE (click here)

• AGENDA FOR PUBLIC HEARING (click here)

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