Kapolei Neighborhood Board Meeting 9/24/08

[dirt racer]

A brief synopsis...

OMAC put on a presentation for the proposed racetrack at Parcel 24. According to OMAC,

50% of the racers would be able to use the facility (roadracing/drifting/dirt track).

Proposed track layout presented:
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g14/dirt_racer/temp%20site/KRP_Phase_1.jpg

Daytime racing only. No lights. No plumbing.

Bunkers on the property could not be demolished per State agencies.

"Target" completion date stated was February 2009.

A stockpiling permit application was being "reviewed".

A grading permit application was being "worked on".

Board member Souza asked if their group was aware of opposition from the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club, and presented a letter. OMAC and the DHHL Administrator Micah Kane stated that the club was only against construction on the "undisturbed" side of the parcel, and that Mrs. Souza had misinterpreted the letter.

This is the letter from the Civic Club to HCDA for reference:


Aloha Directors of the HCDA Board, My name is Lance C. Holden. I am the Pelekikina (president) of 'Ahahui Siwila Hawai'i O Kapolei (Hawaiian Civic Club of Kapolei). Below is a copy of the letter our club sent in June of 2008 to Micah Kane of the Dept. of Hawaiian Home Lands.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------- June 5, 2008 Micah Kane, HHC Chairman Department of Hawaiian Home Lands P.O. Box 18979 Honolulu HI 9685 Aloha Chairman Kane, The Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei (Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club) at their April 20, 2008 meeting discussed the issue of the construction of a Kalaeloa racetrack on your property at Coral Sea Road and Tripoli Road. The Ahahui has participated in discussions regarding the reuse designation of Kalaeloa since 1996. One of our members also served as a member of the Public Facilities and Parks and Recreation Task Force as part of the Barbers Point Redevelopment
Commission. We are aware of a large number of documented Hawaiian cultural sites, to include heiau, walls, paved trails, cultural sinkholes and burials in this area and understand there are many more undocumented sited. Archaeologists who have worked in these areas have indicated that their works were budgeted and not complete. Every subsequent archaeological survey revealed additional features that were not found in earlier surveys. These sites are unique in the sense that they are all constructed of coral. There is nowhere else where you can find these numbers of coral cultural structures.
There is nowhere else in the Islands that you can find structures that were first built in a Tahitian style with additional structures added later in a Hawaiian fashion. These structures confirm the early relationship between Ewa and Tahiti and stories of Tahitian Chief Kahai traveling back and forth between Tahiti and Ewa. These structures are proof that these events really took place and are not myths and legends. These structures support the naming of one of your projects “Kaupe’a” as the lone star pointing the way to the homeland. We have lost more cultural sites in the last 30 years due to
development then we have since the arrival of Captain Cook. The Ahahui is concerned about adverse effects to these precious Hawaiian cultural sites, because of construction and development in the area. We are opposed to any type of construction and development that will compromise the integrity of these cultural sites. The Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei has cared for these cultural sites in Kalaeloa for the past decade and we are confident that our hui can work with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to secure the preservation of these sites for generation to come. ‘Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei would be more than glad to take you and your staff on a site tour of some of these cultural structures. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Mahalo nui, Lance Holden, Pelekikena ‘Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O
Kapolei ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------- Members of the club and I meet with SORT, LLC on August 31st. We wanted to hear there point of view and get a better understanding of their plans for the "disturbed" area of Parcel 24. While SOME of our concerns were addressed, there are other issues that we are still worried about. The civic club is still OPPOSED to a raceway in this area. Our concerns about fire and debris from crashes damaging critical sites in the "undisturbed" area still exist. Those sites are to important to the hawaiian community. Construction of a raceway of any form is to risky to those sites. Mahalo, Lance C. Holden, Pelekikina 'Ahahui Siwila Hawai'i O Kapolei

[Sprint]

so the track going be don in Feb next year?

[dirt racer]

so the track going be don in Feb next year?

Not very likely. :(

They haven't even gotten 1 permit application accepted yet, and they will need several different permits. More likely 1 or 2 years just to get all the permits. An even bigger problem is the opposition from the community. That's what shut down drifting at the Stadium, and that's what will probably shut this project down before it even gets started. Although DHHL and OMAC claimed there was no opposition from the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club, that is not the case. This is an email from one of their members which was posted on a blog, and illustrates the clubs position on the racetrack:


> Subject: Kalaeloa sites
> Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:07:05 -1000
>
> Aloha Fred,
>
> Here is some information about the sites we discussed.
>
> 've been photographing an area out in Kalaeloa that seems to be
> condemned for that raceway park that the drifter / gocart crowd all
> wants so much. There are some sites on the parcel - a large enclosure
> 140 feet across, a length of low, paved walkway about 8 feet wide and
> an unusual structure made up of two close, low, parallel walls that
> run zig-zag for about 25 feet. The usual b.s. archaeological report
> calls the enclosure and zig-zag structure "WWII military" and the
> paved walkway "rubble." - as though all the WWII soldiers from Iowa
> and Minnesota stationed there had nothing better to do there than
> construct clever imitations of drywall Hawaiian sites. Even if these
> sites are destroyed, the really nasty thing about all of this is the
> huge crowd of people who will be drawn to that area, which sits right
> in the middle of a vast complex of really beautiful and fragile sites.
> There will be the wrong kind of people spilling over into all the
> other nearby sites and messing them up.
>
> The only people fighting this are members of the Kapolei Hawaiian
> Civic Club (of which I'm a member). The awkward thing about all of
> this is that the land is now owned by DHHL, which has chosen to ignore
> the club's objections and has gone ahead and awarded the lease to the
> raceway organization. At this point, there needs to be public pressure.
>
> I'll hear back from Shad about what days next week are good for a site
> tour - people can make up their own minds about the cultural value of
> that area.
>
> Jan


In addition to this group, there are many other conservation groups that are joining to try and stop the track at P24. Any developer will have a tough time at that parcel.

[Paradise Racer]

Not very likely. :(

They haven't even gotten 1 permit application accepted yet, and they will need several different permits. More likely 1 or 2 years just to get all the permits. An even bigger problem is the opposition from the community. That's what shut down drifting at the Stadium, and that's what will probably shut this project down before it even gets started. Although DHHL and OMAC claimed there was no opposition from the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club, that is not the case. This is an email from one of their members which was posted on a blog, and illustrates the clubs position on the racetrack:



In addition to this group, there are many other conservation groups that are joining to try and stop the track at P24. Any developer will have a tough time at that parcel.


CORRECTION.....This email was sent BEFORE we had met and did the site tour with the members of the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club. Someone had misinformed them as to what was going on with the property. When we met with them, we showed them the plans and told them what we were planning on doing. Phase I does not interfere with the particular area that Jan is referring to. We walked with him on Sunday and he showed us where the area was. To say the least, it was quite impressive. We reassured him and the rest of the members that were there that we respected the cultural sites and did not wish to disturb them.

We even gave them ideas on how we would be assisting them in preserving the sites also. They were very appreciative. We plan on doing more site tours with Shad Kane.

So, before you go and post up information, make sure that it is updated, correct info. This is where you get rumors and misinformation circulating.

[dirt racer]

CORRECTION.....This email was sent BEFORE we had met and did the site tour with the members of the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club. Someone had misinformed them as to what was going on with the property. When we met with them, we showed them the plans and told them what we were planning on doing. Phase I does not interfere with the particular area that Jan is referring to. We walked with him on Sunday and he showed us where the area was. To say the least, it was quite impressive. We reassured him and the rest of the members that were there that we respected the cultural sites and did not wish to disturb them.

We even gave them ideas on how we would be assisting them in preserving the sites also. They were very appreciative. We plan on doing more site tours with Shad Kane.

So, before you go and post up information, make sure that it is updated, correct info. This is where you get rumors and misinformation circulating.

HELLO! Read the letter again from the Club's President Lance Holden. He says they met with you and are still OPPOSED TO ANY RACETRACK!

P.S. If I was interested in misinformation, I would go to www.kalaeloaracewaypark.com and look at the different "Phases" that YOU ALL KNOW will not be allowed on that parcel!

[dirt racer]

For reference, this is the email that was sent to the Kapolei Neighborhood Board prior to the meeting.


Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 5:02 PM

Aloha members of the Makakilo/Kapolei Neighborhood Board,

I am Lance C. Holden. President of The Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club. I am sending this email because I will not be able to attend this evening's neighborhood board meeting (Sept. 24, 2008).

I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify the club's position on the KRP Track.

On August 31st, 2008 members of our hui meet with members of the SORT, LLC group. They let us know their plans for the property.

After this meeting and seeing KRP's presentation at the August HCDA meeting, The Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club is STILL in OPPOSITION to any type of raceway being built in that location. There is still a risk of damage to the "undisturbed" area of Parcel 24.

If you have any questions, please contact me at: hgd07@mac.com

Thank you,

Lance C. Holden
President, ‘Ahahui Siwila Hawai'i O Kapolei

[Paradise Racer]

Not calling you a liar or anything, however, we met with him, Shad and other members and we all heard him and Shad state that they support what we're doing and now that they see what we're doing, they now see things differently. I know that the information they had prior to our meeting was incorrect.

But, hey, why argue about it....they know what's going to be built and where and they have not contacted us to express that they have changed their mind. So, until they do, I will still have to believe what was discussed the last time we met with them.