HALEIWA, Hawaii (KHON2) – A large development in Haleiwa town is getting some pushback from residents and the neighborhood board.
North Shore leaders said the project has been in discussion for several years and now the developer is looking to reclassify ag land to move forward.
Haleiwa Backyards is the name of the project. It was originally brought up back in 2015 and underwent an environmental assessment which found no significant impacted when it was completed in 2016.
North Shore neighborhood board members said the project went silent during the pandemic and re-surfaced again in February 2024 by the developers grandson.
In October 2024, a consultant for the developer went in front of the North Shore neighborhood board to re-classify the more than seven acres from agriculture land to urban district use land.
The project proposes 30,000 square feet of commercial space and about 150 market-priced rentals in the heart of Haleiwa town; between the bypass (Joseph P. Leong) and Kamehameha Highway. The stretch of property sits behind North Shore Marketplace, other businesses, as well as several homes and stretches to Opaeula Road.
Renderings show Opaeula Road as one of the ways in and out of the proposed area as well as Cane Haul Road which is on the other end of Haleiwa town.
“It just feels like it’s a recipe for disaster and just aggravates the issues that we already have,” explained Kathleen Pahinui, North Shore Neighborhood Board chair.
“It’s a narrow space, and they want to put in 30,000 square foot of retail, about 150 rental units, and these are market price, from my understanding, not affordable,” she added.
She said parking would also be an issue, but a consultant told the board in October if local families lived there it could help alleviate traffic
“I think they’re all designed to be two bedroom units, so small families and the units will be targeted at what is the gap group is, so these are not luxury units, these are for people who live and work in Haleiwa,” explained the consultant Jim Hayes.
He said the area is outside coastal, flood zones and tsunami areas. He added that all the renderings follow the North Shore sustainable communities plan and there are also plans for a permanent farmers market, community neighborhood retail outlet and office space.
Pahinui said the board questioned who would be able to rent the units at market price, since the price for rent is much higher on North Shore than other parts of the island.
“We already have issues with not having enough parking for retail space in Haleiwa, as it is, adding 30,000 more square foot, where are those people going to park? Where are the employees going to park? So, it just feels that it’s not a good place for that project. It’s just going to add to the congestion, to the problems that we’re already experiencing,” Pahinui added.
“So the board felt pretty strongly, as did the community, nobody from the community spoke in favor of the project at all,” she said. “So people were pretty convinced that this is not something that we need at this time or at all, perhaps.”
“I think everyone knows this is just too much stuff in too small of a place,” said North Shore resident Ben Devine. “If a fire were to happen from the south end, there is no way everyone will get out of there,” he said while pointing to the rendering map. “[Opaeula Road] by Ace Hardware is not a two-lane road and it’s never going to be one.”
Others said there could be better use of ag land there.
“It would be great if the city purchased the property and used it for parking, you know, free parking for residents and then paid parking for visitors and parking for people that actually work in in those stores,” Pahinui said. “We would see that as a win for the community, having that as a parking space versus turning it into more more stuff and really materially changing the quality of life for our town to a point where it’s no longer Haleiwa.”
The project is currently going through the permitting process and is looking to reclassify the seven- acres from ag to urban.
A public hearing with the planning commission will be held Wednesday, Jan. 22.