Pupukea Paumalu long-range resource management draft plan released

NORTH SHORE—After a decades-long community effort to preserve the North Shore land known as Pupukea-Paumalu, the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national non-profit land conservation organization, purchased the 1,129 acre parcel from the Obayashi Corporation in June 2007 with the intent of preventing the development of private estates, subdivisions, and the sewage plant originally intended for the property. The North Shore Community Land Trust (NSCLT) assisted the TPL in fundraising for the purchase price and in obtaining community input for planning the future of the property.

NSCLT is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect, steward, and enhance the natural landscapes, cultural heritage, and rural character of ahupuaa from Kahuku Point to Kaena.

TPL signed a $7.97 million purchase agreement with Obayashi, making TPL the owners of the land. Funds were raised with the combined efforts of NSCLT, the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, and other public and private sectors. The acreage is divided between the two ahupuaa, Pupukea and Paumalu, and ranges from the Kahuku border of Sunset Hills to the Haleiwa side of Paumalu Gulch. Twenty-five acres of the property located along Kamehameha Highway was transferred to the City and County of Honolulu Parks Department and the remaining 1,104 acres was transferred to the State of Hawaii Parks Division, which holds it as a park reserve.

Since the purchase, NSCLT has worked with Townscape Inc., a company that provides planning and design services, in assisting the community and stakeholders to develop the draft long-range resource management plan for the property and its resources. The draft plan includes information on the background and history of Pupukea Paumalu, the physical and biological resources of the property, a list of the proposed projects, programs, and initiatives, and information on the implementation process and costs and funding sources.

The draft plan lays out its initiatives in three phases. The first phase projects, which would take under two years, include public recreation access at Kamehameha Highway and Pupukea Road, surveys of the land, and a horse program to monitor the property.

The second phase projects include a Sunset Beach Elementary expansion, learning centers, community gardens, a North Shore market, harnessing renewable energy, and other restoration projects.

Altogether the projects, programs, and initiatives are estimated to cost between $13 million and $19 million. The State and the City have both indicated that they will not be able to dedicate significant funds to Pupukea Paumalu for the foreseeable future. Therefore, funding of projects, programs, or initiatives will have to be sought by the community through grants, donations, fundraisers, and volunteer labor.

The draft of the Pupukea Paumalu long-range resource management plan can be found here.