Waiohuli Community Center Master Plan to Enter Next Phase

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHtanpvrN0g /] By Wendy Osher

*File video from 2012 Phase I groundbreaking event.

A Draft Environmental Assessment with a Finding of No Significant Impact has been filed for the Waiohuli Community Center Master Plan on Maui.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is seeking building and grading permits to complete the next phase of the project, and is accepting public comment on the DEA through Sept. 8, 2015.

The project is located on 17-acres along Lau’ie Drive in the Kula Residential Lots Subdivision.  The association broke ground on Phase I of the Community & Recreational and Center project in July 2012.

According to the Draft document, total design and construction costs is estimated at $20,622,000, per a June 2009 estimated from the Waiohuli Hawaiian Homesteaders Association.  The preliminary cost estimates and timeline includes the following:

• $660,000 for Phase I, which was used for the design and construction of improvements to the upper elevation level including the kitchen house, native plant nursery, parking lot, potable water and waste water systems and electricity.
• $1.5 M in state funds have been appropriated for Phase II to construct a hale halawai at the upper elevation, design a community center at the mid elevation, and construct an amphitheater portion of the facility.
• Timing and scope of Phase III and beyond depends on funding.  According to the Draft Environmental Assessment, components include completion of the community center, recreational field at the lower elevation level, and possibly a swimming pool.  The Waiohuli Hawaiian Homesteaders Association plans to continue its pursuit of federal, state and private grants for operational and CIP funding.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is the fee simple landowner of the project site and has licensed it to the nonprofit Waiohuli Hawaiian Homesteaders Association. Under the agreement, the Waiohuli Hawaiian Homesteaders Association is the steward to the archaeological feature on the site, and is tasked with establishing, maintaining, and operating a recreational park and community center at the site.

The project is designed to serve the existing and future surrounding homestead community with a gathering place and venue for multi-purpose uses.  The community, at full build-out could total nearly 800 lots, according to the DEA.

Subdivision near the Waiohuli Community Center project. File photo by Wendy Osher, 6/30/12.

Waiohuli Community Center project site prior to groundbreaking on Phase I. File photo by Wendy Osher, 6/30/12.

Subdivision near the Waiohuli Community Center project. File photo by Wendy Osher, 6/30/12.

Waiohuli Community Center rendering. File photo by Wendy Osher, 6/30/12.