Molokai Ranch files land use applications

The Maui News
Tuesday, December 26, 2006

WAILUKU - Molokai Ranch has filed applications with Maui County for required land use changes to allow the company to proceed with its La'au Point rural-residential subdivision.

A draft environmental impact statement was filed with the state Office of Environmental Quality Control earlier this month, with a public comment period ending Feb. 6.

According to John Sabas, general manager for community affairs for Molokai Ranch, the applications to the county Planning Department will allow review of the plans concurrently with the draft EIS.

The applications are for amendments to the Molokai Community Plan, zoning changes, a county special use permit for a wastewater treatment plant to accommodate the development and a special use permit for the rural-residential subdivision.

A group of Molokai residents opposed to the plans has protested on Molokai and Oahu against the development of the 500 acres along the southwest corner of the island as a 200-lot subdivision.

In its draft EIS, Molokai Ranch said sale of the residential lots will be a key element in the overall land-use proposal, which also sets aside land for agricultural and conservation uses. The proceeds from the sale of the La'au lots would fund renovation and reopening of the Kaluako'i Hotel and Golf Course and provide an endowment for the Molokai Community Development Corp., the ranch said.

Developed through a series of community meetings on Molokai, the ranch plans include:

- The La'au Point development of 200 two-acre residential lots as part of a 1,432-acre project district that will also include open space buffers and a coastal setback area with walking access only.

- Donation of 26,200 acres from the south coast to the north shore to a Molokai Land Trust to protect cultural and environmental resources, and provide for subsistence gathering.

- Designating 24,950 acres in several parcels around West Molokai and Central Molokai under agricultural or conservation easements.

- Establishing a subsistence fishing zone along the coastal areas of the property, with walking access.

- Allocation of a portion of the sales of each lot in the project to the Molokai Land Trust for management of the trust lands.

Sabas noted that the hearings to be held by the Molokai Planning Commission on the project will provide the community with details of the overall project and what the effects of the plans will have on water use, natural resources and support for the subsistence lifestyle of many families.

"Aside from the obvious benefit of turning over the majority of the ranch's land to community control, the review process - especially the public's participation - will make abundantly clear the many environmental, cultural, economic and social benefits of the Master Plan, which the La'au Point development will make possible," he said.

The plans will require action by both the Maui County agencies and the state Land Use Commission, with the entitlement processing to involve a series of public and evidentiary hearings. Normal procedures would have the county approve the community plan designation, the Land Use Commission approve the boundary amendments and the county approve zoning and SMA.

(read original here)