The Ho'opili Insanity - Oahu's Best Farmland Covered In Asphalt And Concrete
by John Bond Kanehili Cultural Hui
This is the Prime Agricultural Farmland that is
going to be covered over in concrete and asphalt.
This has been a Traditional Cultural (agricultural) Property (TCP) for
over 1000 years.
Vast acreage of grade A-B volcanic soil from Waianae volcano make this
area the “Golden Triangle.”
This is a completely “Turn Key” agricultural property with existing
roads, running water and power.
This type of four crop cycle farmland is NOT cheaply and easily
replaceable somewhere else.
These photos shall remain as evidence that a great agricultural tragedy
will soon take place in Ewa.
These people are picking farm fresh vegetables that are being loaded
into small trucks and delivered directly to supermarkets and small local
markets providing the freshest produce possible. The highway and freeway is
directly adjacent providing the fastest and most economical transfer of fresh
food to the local consumer. There could never be a better fresh farm produce
infrastructure than what you are seeing right here. Destroying this ideal valuable
farmland is COMPLETELY INSANE.
Five very qualified experts
rated the Hoopili lands as exceeding the requirements of the “Farmland
Conversion Impact Rating” (NRCS-CPA-106)
Only rail contractor
Parsons Brinkerhoff, who never consulted any agriculture experts, rated these
lands as BELOW the Section 4f impact
rating required to provide for farmland preservation. The score arrived at, and
thereafter used officially by the City and Parsons Brinkerhoff to justify not
evaluating alternative routes, does not correspond to the realities of common observation. The official score for the
Rail project is 120. The threshold
triggering required alternative evaluation is 160. Five independent third parties scored the
impact rating at an average of 226. See
their qualifications below.
Qualifications of Third
Parties Who
Have Scored the Impact
Rating:
Professor James Brewbaker,
joined the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences in the College of Tropical Agriculture Cornell University Hawaii
Glenn A. Martinez
is the President of the Hawaii Farmers’ Union . He owns Olomana Gardens
Professor Hector Valezuela is
a full professor and Vegetable Crops Extension Specialist, with twenty years of
experience, now working in the Program on Small Farms, Organic Farming, and
Sustainable Agriculture, in the College
of Tropical Agriculture University
of Florida (Vegetable Crops), and a
Ph.D. from Washington
State University
Professor C.N. Lee
is a full professor and an Extension Specialist in the College of Tropical
Agriculture University of Wisconsin
– Madison Africa . He has worked with farmers throughout the
state, primarily dairy producers, but also vegetable growers and new
farmers. Dr. Lee began trips to the site
in 1995, then as Executive Director of the Agribusiness Development Corporation
(ADC), State of Hawaii
Jimmy F. “Jeno” Enocencio
is a third generation farmer and rancher on the Island of Hawai’i Victory Garden
in Hilo Big
Island
Oral
Closing Argument
by Dr. Kioni Dudley
Intervenor for
Friends of Makakilo
Land Use Commission
– Ho’opili Case
June 8, 2012
Good
afternoon.
The
question before this Commission is whether or not to completely destroy highly
productive agricultural land to make way for yet another unneeded
suburb.
Today, I will be addressing that question,
along with the problems of traffic, and why these houses are not needed.
I
Let’s begin with agriculture.
I
want to start with statements by the Petitioner’s ag expert, Bruce Plasch. Although no one would expect him to heap
praise on the ag land involved, listen to what he said in the Environmental
Impact Statements for this project (show the EIS) : This land “has very favorable conditions for
crop production, with high-quality soils, flat or gently sloping terrain, high
solar radiation (sunshine), low pumping costs for irrigation, and it’s location
is close to town. It has prime soils of A and B quality. (EIS
Vol.2. Sect. 1, p.ES1. Also Supp.WTD
2:1-7) Those
are direct quotes! He’s saying the same
thing we are. And he was testifying for the Petitioner! Why such great praise?
Because it cannot be denied.
Plasch
later writes, “The Petition Area constitutes about one-fourth of what was
called the Golden Triangle,” and is the only part of the Golden Triangle still
remaining in agriculture. (Plasch Supp. WDT 7:9-13) I
want to repeat that: “The Petition Area constitutes about one-fourth of what
was called the Golden Triangle.” The Golden Triangle. Why was the Petition land
called the Golden Triangle? Because as another exhibit states, “For vegetable
crops, the Ho’opili lands are among the most sustainably productive in the
world.”(FOM
James Brewbaker Exhibit 33, p. 1)
Most
places in the world, because of their winters, have only one growing season a
year. Hawaii can grow year round, though some areas are limited in number of
crops per year because of cloud cover and rain. Because of abundant sunshine in
low-lying Ho’opili, yields of crops like sweet corn are at least 55% higher
there than on the North Shore slopes.(J B FOM Exhibit 33)
What
does the land produce? In 2007, the last year records were kept, Ho`opili land
produced more than 40% of Oahu’s fresh broccoli, beans, romaine lettuce, and
zucchini, and more than 70% of Oahu’s fresh corn, cantaloupe, pumpkin, and
honeydew, along with smaller percentages of a number of other crops. (DOA Statistics 2007)
Ho’opili
constitutes a huge chunk of our ag land on O’ahu. When pineapple, coffee,
flowers, and other export crops are excluded, there are only 4,800 acres
of land on Oahu currently producing food for local people. Ho`opili accounts
for 1,497 of those acres. That’s 32% of Oahu’s active farm acreage. (C.
Fujikane, 1/19/12, 190:4-193:7) Again, let me repeat,
Ho’opili constitutes roughly one-third of all the O’ahu farmland that produces
food for the local market.
Let’s
talk more about the soil -- Professor Jonathan Deenik testified, “Close to 90%
of the Petition area is composed of high activity clays, which are
characterized by very high nutrient retention capacity, and high fertility. “ (J.
Deenik, 3/16/12, 74:5-9) Fifty percent of the soils come from two
groupings: Molosols and Vertisols. Deenik says, “Of the 12 soil types on
the planet, these two fall at the very top in terms of fertility and
agricultural productivity.” (Deenik 3/16/12 75:10-16)
We all need to be aware of the stark reality of what will happen to this
precious farmland. Because a thousand of the acres are clay, which contracts
and expands, cracking foundations, the developer will need to scrape off three
or four feet of the prime, A and B quality soil, haul it away, and replace it
with three feet of coral. (Repeat: They will put a thin layer of the soil back
on top of the coral, forming an Oreo.) This destruction of the farmland will be
total and irreversible. It will be impossible to correct for as long as humans
live in these islands. (J.
Deenik, 3/16/12 78:22-79:2)
Can we afford to let them do that? No. Why?
We
import roughly 90% of our food. We have less than two week’s supply of food in
the islands. If the ships don’t arrive, we don’t eat. We need to be aware of
the many things that could cut off our food supply. A spike in oil prices
could make many foods became too expensive to import. A tsunami could
destroy our ports and low-lying airports. A pandemic could close the
islands to all flights and all shipping. A major earthquake in California
could destroy ports and roadways to them. War could cut Hawaii off from
its food suppliers, even for years. These things may not happen soon, but your
descendants will live here for centuries…Centuries. Surely the time will come
when these Ho’opili lands will be needed for food in order to survive.
But the farmlands will be gone. . . if you allow it.
Let’s
look at some better alternatives for the future. In the Fall semester,
2012, Ma’o Farms will initiate an agriculture program of studies at the new UH
West Oahu Campus, just across the road from Ho’opili. It will eventually accept
75 students a year. (Gary 3/1 45:8ff)
Those
graduates will need farmland. Many witnesses have told us of the shortage of
available land for small and medium-size farms. (G. Maunakea-Forth 3.1.12, 44: 1, 10-14; L.
Cox, 3/1/12, 132:8-18) There really is no farmland available.
This
Ho’opili land is the perfect solution for that problem. If you keep this land
in ag, and if Aloun continues to make their slow move from the Ho’opili land to
Galbraith Estate, over the years, this will open up the Ho’opili lands for
young farmers and current farmers seeking to expand. With both properties being
farmed—Ho’opili and Galbraith-- we can almost
double the food production of Ho’opili.
The
timing could not be better. The lands would become available just as a new
pro-farm consciousness is sweeping across America. We have seen such major changes in the last
few years.
You remember, in 2009,
when we began these hearings, I sat here alone, just one person standing up for
the farms. In these last three and a half years, we have seen a mushrooming of
public consciousness about fresh fruits and vegetables. People are concerned about nutrition. They want organically grown food. They feel strong about food security and the
need to save our farmlands. All of these concepts are new. KANU Hawaii has 30,000 members eating right,
eating local. It’s everywhere: Honolulu
Weekly has articles each week. Civil
Beat, Hawaii Reporter, other webnews sites.
The Star Advertiser, Hawaii Public
Radio, ‘Olelo, Talk Radio.
We have 50 farmer’s markets
on this island alone. Surveys say people
are willing to pay more for locally grown food. And they are right.
We have become a food
conscious and farm conscious society.
This change has also
affected the City Council.
With Ho’opili and Koa Ridge clearly in mind, and with full awareness
that both were within the Urban Growth Boundary and were designated by the City
for development, the entire City Council voted unanimously for Resolution
12-23.
Be it resolved by the Council of the City
and County of Honolulu that the City’s Agricultural Liaison is urged to
expedite the identification and mapping of important agricultural lands and
ensure that the IAL maps support and protect farming by stabilizing the
agriculture land base.
Be it further resolved that the process of
identification and mapping of important agricultural lands also consider
agriculturally productive lands within urban growth boundaries that are
classified as prime agricultural lands, provided adequate water supply is
available....
By passing this
Resolution, the Council expressed its willingness to lay aside city plans for
urbanization of Ho’opili and Koa Ridge, and to consider those properties for
Important Agricultural Lands designation should the Land Use Commission keep
the land in Ag.
What
about the Legislature? In this last session, there was a bill, HB2703, which
would have doubled local agricultural production in the State by 2020. 37 of the 50 Representatives (over 2/3rds of
all the Reps) and 4 Senators co-authored the bill. It sailed through the House, and the Senate,
before being killed in Conference Committee because of outside pressures.
The bill getting that far
shows that the world has indeed changed. Demand for food security, and for fresh,
locally grown produce really is the wave of the future. We need to ride
that wave.
II. TRAFFIC
Let’s talk traffic:
During the Lingle
administration, the Commission received a very grave warning about freeway standstill
from then State DOT Director, Brennon Morioka. In his written testimony, he
wrote, "Even with all assumed mitigation measures, the H-1 Freeway will
quickly degrade to Level of Service F due to the Ho'opili Project.”
"At LOS F there is gridlock
on the freeway. (Niiya
Transcript 10/21/11 162:12-25)
He continued,
"Knowing that we would not accept Petitioner's proposed TIAR or
any modification thereof, the Department of Transportation has proposed no
conditions for the Decision and Order." (Niiya-Cerullo
Transcript 10/21/12 165:11-19)
How
much stronger can one get?
The
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Project itself lays out the same
story in Table 4.13. It shows that in 2030, when the project is fully built
out, even with Rail in place, the intersections on the H-1 freeway will
mostly have Level of Service F at rush hour. (See FOM Exhibit 14 from FEIS)
Let’s take a look at it.
Starting with the morning commute, the freeway at Makakilo Drive is now
at Level of Service A – free flowing.
With the project it will become E.
That’s the worst traffic we know today.
And this is seven miles before the H-1/H-2 merge! Every other cross road studied is atLOS F,
stalled. Kunia Rd./Fort Weaver Rd. has
LOS F. Pa’iwa St. at Waikele has LOS
F. The H-1/H-2 merge is at F.
Let’s look at it coming home. We know that the worst of the traffic today
coming out of the city is before the
H-1/H-2 merge. With Ho’opili, the merge
will be at F. Pa’iwa St. because it has
an extra lane in that small section, will be at D. Kunia/Fort Weaver will be at F. And Makakikilo Drive, way out there, will be
at Level of Service F, gridlock.
A.M. P.M.
(7
mi upstream from merge)
Makakilo
Dr. (now
at A) E F (Way
out there!)
Kunia
Rd. (FWR) F
F
Pa’iwa
St. (Waikele) F
D (because an extra
lane already exists there)
H-1/H-2
merge F F
That’s about as bad as it can possibly get.
Let’s
return to morning traffic: To solve the
problem, the Petitioner has come up with the preposterous plan of narrowing the existing lanes so it can stripe
in another lane. . . a lane that will end just before the H-1/H-2 merge, which,
as you know, cannot be widened.
As
Professor Panos Prevedouros testified, the H-1/H-2 merge is a three-lane choke
point on the freeway. He testified, “It doesn’t matter if you add ten lanes
upstream, if they all come down to three lanes at the H-1/H-2 merge, it doesn’t
take a civil engineer to tell you, you haven’t solved the problem. It’s a
choker. A choker is a choker is a choker.”
(Prevedouros
77:1-23)
Adding another lane that ends at the H-1/H-2 merge can only make a far, far
worse jam at the merge…and upstream!
I want to impress upon you
that every commuter from Kapolei and Makakilo, and every commuter from the
Wai’anae coast, and every commuter from Ewa and from Ewa Beach will be behind
the 12,000 cars generated by Ho’opili. We have the worst traffic in the
U.S. We already expect to add 34,805
cars from the zoned houses. Our people
are really suffering. We need your help. Please don’t put 12,000 more cars on our
freeway.
III
Let’s talk about the need for houses: Reasonable Need for Urban
Growth is one of the reasons given in HAR 15-15-77 which would allow the
Commission to urbanize ag land.
Is
this Project reasonably necessary for Urban growth? No,
it’s not needed at all. The testimony of Bob Stanfield, the City planner, has
to be read carefully for the facts. As an employee of the city, he must say
what the city wants him to say. But as a professional planner, he must also be
true to himself and his profession. So he lays out the truth for those paying
attention in his
written testimony from 2009, and repeats it again in 2012.
On page one of both documents, he says “Our
long-range projection is that the demand for homes in Central Oahu and Ewa,
through2035, will average 1800 units a year.” (Stanfield DPP Exhibit
10B) So,
at 1800 units a year, how many units do we need between 2009 and 2035? 26 years
x 1800 units = 46,800 units.
Now,
when testifying, Stanfield talked about the 34,805 units already zoned, fully
entitled, and ready to build in ‘Ewa.
And
in Central Oahu, our exhibits show there are 12,000 more homes at Wai`awa by
Gentry, and 3,500 more in Royal Kunia/Launani Valley/Waikele, all fully
entitled and waiting to be built.
(DPP
Annual Report on Status of Land Use on Oahu in 2010)
This
totals 50,305 homes in Central and Ewa. This does not include Ho’opili
or Koa Ridge. (EDP May 2011, p2-11 and DPPAnnual Report on Status of
Land Use on Oahu in 2010.)
If we take those 50,305
zoned units and subtract the 46,800 units that will be needed by 2035, we have
an excess of 3,505 units beyond what’s needed.
Not
one house in the Ho’opili project is needed, according to Stanfield’s
numbers. If we were to build the
11,750 houses projected for Ho’opili, we would have a huge excess of more than 15,000
homes. If built, Ho’opili will glut the housing market. Clearly, this project is not reasonably
necessary for urban growth.
Further,
with 50,305 units ready to build in Leeward and Central, it is very
difficult to make a case for the need for more jobs and more economic
development. If these 50,000 units
haven’t generated construction jobs, why would adding 12,000 more change the
situation? The problem with lack of
construction jobs is the economy, not lack of houses to build. We have plenty of houses to build.
Finally,
let’s talk of sprawl. There is no city in the Second City, no downtown business
district in Kapolei. In all 80 square blocks , there are only 12 substantial
buildings standing! It’s a ghost town. And there’s nothing on the drawing
boards. Bank of Hawaii has mostly moved out of their huge building. The concept
of the Second City is all but completely dead. The Second City was supposed to
be a job center, take people off the freeway. Without it, Ho’opili will be one more huge
bedroom community, nothing more, extending the ugly urban sprawl of Honolulu. Do we really need one more, humongous bedroom
community?
I
want to mention two other points before finishing. From the very beginning of the planning for
the Second City, this area was kept separate and planned to be kept in
agriculture. Governor Waihee told us
this, and Tom Coffman also went in to great detail about it. The plan was to use the scrub lands closer to
the seashore first, and slowly to use the better lands. (The closer land is to the mountains the
thicker the soil. It gets very thin by
the seasore.) It was never planned that
this prime farm property would be used for houses.
Finally,
I want to say something about tourism.
Tourism is leading our economic recovery. We need to support it. What do tourists come to see? The lush green beauty of Hawaii. When they drive up H-2, they want to see
country; they don’t want to see houses on both sides of the road. When they leave Waipahu and break out into
the country, they want to see mountains and open vistas. Tourists don’t want to see houses along the
side of the road. Worse yet, there’s
going to be a ten foot high cement wall along the freeway. That will make them feel like they are right
back in the San Fernando Valley.
We
can’t pave over the beauty of this island.
Or we’ll kill off our number one industry.
For all of these reasons, I beg you to vote against the
petition to develop this property.
Thank you.
West Oahu Eco-Disaster: HART Rail Hitting Karst Water, Sea Caves And Polluting Ewa-Honoululi-Waipahu Wetlands
West Oahu's greatest natural apocalypse is unfolding, with hundreds
of 8 foot in diameter, 200 foot deep drill bores, the ancient karst water, sea caves and
wetlands are being fractured and polluted, then to be followed by
a major new asphalt and concrete city based around
three huge HART Rail Transit Oriented Developments.
The already fragile Ewa Plain ecosystem based on natural clean water will be destroyed.
of 8 foot in diameter, 200 foot deep drill bores, the ancient karst water, sea caves and
wetlands are being fractured and polluted, then to be followed by
a major new asphalt and concrete city based around
three huge HART Rail Transit Oriented Developments.
The already fragile Ewa Plain ecosystem based on natural clean water will be destroyed.
HART Rail Ewa Plain Route Drills Into Major 1000 Year Old Native Hawaiian Burial Grounds
By John Bond, Kanehili Cultural Hui
