Hawai'i Wildlife Fund wants to publicly thank the County Council Land Use Committee for sending the lwa 'Ike LLC request for a district boundary amendment from agricultural to urban to subdivide 2.79 acres and the Pine State Limited request for a state land use district classification change from agricultural to rural for a two-lot subdivision on approximately 1.395 acres located at Makena-Keoneoio Road (TMK: (2) 2-1-05:117) back to the Maui Planning Commission for review.
In short, a couple of landowners near Makena State Park want to be able to build more houses than the one house and cottage that they are already allowed.
Oneloa "Big" Beach, across the street from the properties in question, is a critically important habitat for our native hawksbill turtle, or "honu 'ea," which has special meaning to the Hawaiian culture and is endemic to our state, meaning that we're not getting outside recruits from anywhere else so we must malama the ones we have here in Hawaii nei.
These turtles return to nest near their natal beach, where they were born 15 to 40 years before when these beaches were quite pristine. Hawai'i Wildlife Fund exists to help Hawaii's marine animals, whose habitats have been dramatically changed over the years.
We support keeping the zoning surrounding Makena State Park in low density designation such as agriculture, and protecting these special habitats.
Angelika Hofmann
Hawai'i Wildlife Fund
Hawksbill Recovery Project
Paia
