LIHU‘E — Over 400 acres on the Westside the county owns are now the focus of a new master plan.
Unlike the West Kaua‘i Community Plan that was put into action last year and provides policy guidance for the region’s future land use, housing and infrastructure, the Waimea 400 Master Plan tackles the development of the parcel between Kekaha and Waimea, mauka of Kaumali‘i Highway, county Planning Director Ka‘aina Hull said.
“The Waimea 400 Master Plan is a master plan for the overall development of the specific site,” Hull said in an email. “The Waimea 400 Master Plan process will utilize guidance from the community plan.”
In 2019, the county purchased 417 acres for $5.3 million from Kikiaola Land Company, which stipulated that a portion of the property be designed to accommodate the housing needs of the community.
The planning process is a partnership between PBR Hawai‘i and the county Planning Department. The first phase of the project is gathering and sharing information about the parcel, then moving to determining future usages and site design.
Currently, the Waimea 400 project is engaging community residents to complete an online survey indicating preferences for park and recreational amenities and housing. The county is anticipating community meetings to begin in early March both virtually and in-person. The project is expected to be wrapped by the summer.
The property is home to the Waimea Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is located in the middle of the eastern half of the property.
Some of the acreage has been leased by Maui Kupono Builders, LLC, for an asphalt base yard, and Hartung Brothers has a portion of the property for production of alfalfa. Both of these lease agreements were in place prior to the county’s purchase.
Last year, the county’s Department of Public Works built an overflow parking lot next to the Waimea Athletic Field and performed clean up on a portion of the site, according to the Waimea 400 website.
The land is zoned agricultural by the county and state.
The West Kaua‘i Community Plan designated an eastern quadrant of the property as a walkable neighborhood for mixed-use residential development, and the rest of the parcel has been designated for park use, including recreation or gardens.
The plan will seek to address rainfall, sea-level rise and flooding, too.
Initial input on the Waimea 400 parcel was gathered during open houses of the West Kaua‘i Community Plan. There, community members wrote down their top three priorities for the property. Some of those suggestions were a pool, dog park, affordable housing, biking facilities and walking paths.
Community members can get involved by taking a survey on the waimea400.com website, or by dropping off comments at businesses around the Westside, including Waimea Big Save, Umi’s Store, Da No Booze Shop, Ishihara Market, Waimea Subway, Kekaha Thrifty Mini Mart, Salt Pond Country Store and ‘Ele‘ele Big Save.
For a printed paper copy of the survey, residents may call the Planning Department at 241-4050.
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Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
Why doesn’t the article mention a skatepark? There has been overwhelming support for a skate park from the west side community for years. The kids wanted one so bad they built their own until the state of hawaii used their homeless eviction money to bulldoze it. The West Kauai Community plan has had a skate park in it for 10 years, now is the time. Kids need to get outside and exercise, they also need to know we support them and want them to be happy and healthy
ooops, sorry – looking for blue link and found waimea400.com in the article, here is the link – https://www.waimea400.com/
There goes the neighborhood.
Great idea to develop the westside. Since this is all sugar plantation land before, all you see now is waste land and nothing on it. It all depends how much you wanted to invest in Kaua’i. If you wanted this to look like another Grove Farm, I would say invest in this seriously. A really good complex area for shopping and dining for Westside would cost a total of $10 billion dollars. It would be a serious enough development for all of Kaua’i. It would look like Grove Farm. And serve the West Kaua’i residents. Seriously speaking, if this was federal funded, I’d say go for the $10 billion dollars to build and start. This is a little more than an Aloha Stadium Entertainment development. Of which they are serious. Since this is Federal money being used, or if it’s federal money used, consider the whole 9 yards and make this into a really transforming project worth while. You’d be building this project on more for the buck. I say go for the whole 9 yards and make it happen. Easily done. But what do I know. My parents are still there. But they live in Hanalei. Of which they were from West Virginia. Already familiar with the whole island are them. So this takes also into account why would they do it. Because they want to. The community that is.
why would we want to live on land sprayed with chemicals during the plantation days? and even now used for making asphalt and a sewer plant?
no thanks…
Apparently the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the majority of people from discerning and smelling the stench of this propaganda and the facts laid out in full disclosure daily by non government organizations that our once lovely Kauai is now a toxic waste dump on land and sea….. I am taking deep breathing seriously these days and must say…… P.U. every where I go from Lydgate to the Cliffs along our shoreline to the dead reefs and POLLUTED bays….
Hewa