‘People there need housing’: Haleiwa Backyards developer defends project

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The developer behind a controversial housing development on Oahu’s North Shore is speaking out as the project faces opposition in the City Council.

Entrepreneur D.G. Andy Anderson says he’s been working with the City and its North Shore Sustainable Community Plan for years to create housing and a growth hub in Haleiwa Town that would support North Shore workers.

“We thought bringing people from Waialua and/or from the Sunset Beach area, wherever they rent, to put them into town in this backyard area where they can walk or bike to work. It’s called infilling and it really makes a lot of sense rather than get in a car and waste 45 minutes of your time twice a day,” he explained.

His more than 7-acre parcel is sandwiched between J.P. Leong Highway and the back of North Shore Marketplace. Dubbed the Haleiwa Backyards, it’s nothing more than a gravel road and dry grass.

Anderson says he wants to convert the land into 150 low-rise apartments for local workers and families and 30,000 square feet of retail space for services for residents, such as a FedEx shop, laundry service, yoga studio or doctor’s office.

But the project was stalled last week when the City Council chose not to pass Bill 37, which would have rezoned the parcel from agriculture to urban.

Anderson says he was surprised to see people who once supported the plan now oppose it.

“We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars designing these things and putting into print,” he said. “Why it’s being opposed is still a mystery to me, because it’s their language, it’s their description, it’s their uses, and it’s their density.”

The bill was sent back to the zoning committee so the City, community members and Anderson can explore other options, from building a community garden to a possible city or nonprofit acquisition.

Meantime, the North Shore Sustainable Community Plan was approved in 2011 and is supposed to be updated every 10 years. The new version is still being finalized.

When asked if he would sell the parcel to the city, Anderson said, “I might if they can assure me they won’t turn it into an ag lot or if it won’t sit there for a fallow and weeds, and not benefit somebody.”

“There is a lot that can provide the housing. It’s right next to their jobs, so there’s more pluses than there are minuses,” he added.

Opponents say the concept is nice in theory, but would be impossible to enforce or guarantee.

“There’s no condition on either the land use change or the eventual zoning change that would make that promise come true,” said Denise Antolini, co-coordinator of Aole Backyards Coalition. “We have been burned many, many times. Communities have been burned by nice promises that are not followed through on.”

“We’re looking for a future of the property that would benefit Haleiwa, North Shore residents with agricultural, civic services, disaster preparedness, or things that we really need,” she said.

Honolulu City Council member Matt Weyer, who represents the North Shore, said, “I wouldn’t want to suggest that we don’t have a housing need in our community. I also don’t want to suggest that there should just be free reign under our land use ordinance and all the regulations that apply to agricultural land. I think that it requires balance. I think it requires that we look at putting housing in places where there’s sufficient infrastructure.”

But without housing, Anderson believes Haleiwa will remain stagnant.

“There’s got to be some growth. We graduate hundreds of kids every year from Waialua and Kahuku, etc. If they want to work and live in the town where they grew up, it’s impossible,” he said.