Bill 57- Ko‘olau Poko Sustainable Communities Plan

The O‘ahu Group submitted the following written and oral testimony regarding the Ko‘olau Poko Sustainable Communities Plan before the Council's Transportation and Planning Committee on August 1, 2017. There were several proposed amendments to the bill that we addressed in our comments:  The Committee considered several of our comments and aligned with our position- they did not extend the Community Growth Boundary into the DeReis property in Kahalu‘u, they approved transferring ownership of the Stairway to Heaven from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to the City and County, and although they approved the expansion of the Hawaiian Memorial Park, they included an amendment to ensure the protection of any "rare, threatened, or endangered species" that may potentially be affected by the proposal. Hawaiian Memorial Park has also hired a entomologist to complete a biological survey of the expansion area to locate the habitat of the endangered Hawaiian Blackline Damselfly and assess the impacts of the development in the project's EIS. We will stay updated with this process to ensure Hawaiian Memorial Park is held accountable to the commitments they made before the community and Council. Bill 57 passed third reading on August 9th, 2017.