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Stene: Palamanui road woes

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Aaron Stene | Special to Hawaii 24/7

The developer of the Palamanui project, which is home to the future Hawaii Community College at Palamanui, is again asking for concessions from Hawaii County.

This time they’re asking for a time extension to construct the University Drive Extension between the college campus and Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

In addition, they’re asking for relief from constructing a new mauka-makai roadway between the college and Mamalahoa Highway.

The developer(s) of this project have spent more than $20 million on infrastructure improvements for their project and the new college campus.

I firmly believe they’ve gone above and beyond with their investment back into the community.

This is why I believe the county, the developer and the community need to work together to find a mutually agreeable solution to this issue.

It would be a real loss for the community if Palamanui’s hand is forced and they have to suspend the project.

Everyone would lose in this in scenario.

Palamanui has offered to contribute $3 million to start work on the next segment of the Ane Keohokalole Highway in lieu of construction of the new mauka-makai connector.

The county could expedite the design and obtain the environmental clearances for this highway segment as a result.

I firmly believe extending Ane Keohokalole Highway will help with regional traffic circulation more than extending University Drive between the Mamalahoa Highway and the college campus.

Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona

One Response to “Stene: Palamanui road woes”

  1. Michael Kramer says:

    It sets a bad precedent to forgive developers for commitments they make to obtain project approval. This is about honoring agreements. They knew what they agreed to, including how much it would cost, and now want to keep more money for themselves rather than provide necessary infrastructure. Make no mistake – despite whatever they’ve already “contributed”, they are trying to generate a certain rate of return. It’s too bad they apparently didn’t plan well, but their profit margin is not a community concern – the community still needs what it needs.

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