Cayetano Could Change Ewa Development Plan

by Dr. Keoni Dudley

This morning the City Council will have the first reading of Bill 65 to accept a revision of the Ewa Development Plan.

The Ewa Development Plan became law in 1997. And, by law, it should have been revised every five years. It is ten years late reaching the council. And the question is " Why now? "

It should be clear to everybody that the election of Ben Cayetano could change all of the main points in the EDP.  

Both Rail and the Ho’opili project are key elements of the EDP. It is well known that Cayetano is against the Rail. What is not so well known is that he personally came down to the LUC to testify against the Ho’opili project and to save the farmland. He has publicly stated repeatedly that we Ho’opili and Koa Ridge comprise roughly one third of the farmland on Oahu producing food for the local market, and that we cannot afford to lose them.

Bringing the Plan before the Council now is a crass attempt to commit that land to development with the force of law before the upcoming election and while the appeal of the Land Use Commission’s decision is yet undecided in the courts.

It is an attempt to give Rail additional force of law before the election.

Three Neighborhood Boards–Ewa, Kapolei, and Mililani—have voted for resolutions asking that the Ewa Development Plan be delayed until after the General Plan for O’ahu is finished.

Some of the problems with the Ewa Development Plan are discussed in the article below which was published in the Star Advertiser on July 10, 2012.

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SA: Ewa Development Plan: A gift to developers, at our expense July 10, 2012