North Shore Land To Be Preserved

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(top photo) A portion of the Pupukea-Paumalu coastal bluff, outlined in red, comprises 1,129 acres that will be protected under a $7.95 million deal. (above) Reed Matusuura, Larry McElheny, Lea Hong, Laura Figueira, Rep. Michael Magaoay, Donna Woo, Blake McElheny, Col. Howard Killian and Peter Young. Photos by John Bilderback.

An expansive North Shore property once intended for development will be permanently preserved after the North Shore Community Land Trust and government parties united to buy the land for $7.95 million.

The sale of the 1,129-acre property known as the Pupukea-Paumalu coastal bluff comes after almost 20 years of community concerns over the landowner’s plans to develop the 1,129-acre site with a subdivision called Lihi Lani, which included a sewage treatment plant, a YMCA facility, senior housing and affordable homes.

Lea Hong, Hawaiian Island program director for the Trust for Public Land, which purchased the property from Japan-based Obayashi Corp. last month, said that from the community’s perspective the land is “a jewel for future generations.”

“I do think that 50 years from now people will look back at the preservation of this area as being an incredible opportunity, and they’ll be very happy that property was saved.”

Hong’s group has been working with the North Shore Community Land Trust to purchase the property since 2002, when Obayashi Corp. put it back on the market after purchasing it in the 1990s for $7 million.

The sale attracted various bidders, but Hong attributed her group’s success in part to Surfrider Japan arranging a meeting between Obayashi and musician Jack Johnson, a member of the North Shore Community Land Trust, who requested Obayashi’s serious consideration of its offer.

“To Obayashi’s credit, they entered into an agreement to sell the property to us realizing there would be a longer waiting period in terms of getting the money together, but that the result would be a more positive result for them and the community,” Hong said.

The North Shore community group raised $626,599 with the help of the local community and area businesses, Hong said. Also providing funding were the: city, state, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association Estuarine Land Conservation Program, and U.S. Army Compatible Use Buffer Program, which provided $3.3 million, the largest single sum.“It really took a lot of people to work together to make it happen, but i think it was well worth it,“she said.

Upon purchase, a 25-acre parcel along Kamehameha Highway was transferred to the city for a nature preserve. The larger 1,104-acre parcel will be transferred to the state as park reserve when its funding comes through, which is expected in the next month or two, Hong said.

She said North Shore community group plans to enter into an agreement with the state parks division for stewardship and care of the facilities. The property, next to Sunset Beach Elementary School and camp for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, contains a nursery, which could be used for things like native plant restoration, she said.

Blake McElheny, the North Shore group’s president, expressed gratitude to Obayashi, the Trust for Public Land, government officials and “the innumerable PupukeaPaumalu community supporters.”“Community dreams can be achieved,“he said,“when we bring people together around shared values for the benefit of the public.”