1. KO’OLAU LOA ’ S ROLE IN O’AHU ’ S DEVELOPMENT PATTERN
1
The General Plan of the City and County of Honolulu designates the Ko’olau
Loa Sustainable Communities Plan Area, shown in Figure 1-1, as a rural area
and specifies that its natural resources and predominately ”country” character should be maintained
by allowing only limited development in established communities.
The sparsely populated Ko’olau Loa region spans the northern half of O’ahu’s windward
coast. It is bordered on the north by the Waiale’e community just beyond
Kawela Bay, and on the south by the ridgeline just beyond the north
end on Kane’ohe Bay. The residential communities located along Kamehameha Highway, the only
arterial roadway linking this area with the North Shore and Ko’olaupoko, include Kahuku,
La’ie, Hau’ula, Punalu’u, Kahana and Ka’a’awa. The rural character of this region and
its cultural and agricultural history are reminiscent of old Hawai’i. The Sustainable Communities
Plan’s vision is to maintain and enhance the man-made and natural elements that
make Ko’olau Loa’s rural character so unique and special.
This update reaffirms Ko’olau Loa’s role in O’ahu’s development pattern as intended in
the General Plan policies by establishing the following principles for future land use
and development in the Sustainable Communities Plan Area:
· Recognize traditional ahupua’a divisions and distinctions and incorporate the ahupua’a concept as the
primary basis for land use planning in Ko’olau Loa.
· Maintain and, where possible, expand critical open space areas and shoreline views between
the existing pattern of community development so as to preserve a separation between
the natural and built environment within each ahupua’a.
· Preserve the existing strong relationship between the natural landscape of the mountains to
the ocean, and the man-made landscape of agricultural fields and small rural communities.
· Promote diversified agriculture and aquaculture on existing agricultural lands in accordance with the
General Plan policy to support agricultural diversification in all rural areas on O’ahu.
· Preserve continuous coastal views and scenic views of ridges, valley slopes, and prominent
land features.
· Provide for new employment-based development which will offer quality jobs and be compatible
with the existing communities’ rural fabric and the natural environment.
· Limit future resort development to the existing zoned lands in secondary resort areas
at Kahuku Point-Kawela Bay area and La’ie.
Figure 1-1
Development Plan Areas for O’ahu
· Support and encourage improvements at existing educational and recreational facilities.
· Preserve the ”country” lifestyle as expressed by rural housing clusters or neighborhoods which
are defined by open space and blend into the surrounding landscape with as
little disruption as possible to the scenic quality of the area.
· Establish rural residential development standards so that new infrastructure and site layout requirements
will be in keeping with the desired rural character of the region.
· Establish country town design guidelines for commercial and other non-residential use areas so
that new development will be in keeping with the region’s rural character.
· Promote access to mountain and shoreline resources for recreational purposes and traditional hunting,
fishing, gathering, religious, and cultural practices.