Wai‘anae Ecological Characterization

Land Management

The current and the planned land use within the Wai‘anae moku are described in the Wai‘anae Sustainable Communities Plan, prepared by the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning and Permitting (2000). The plan was developed with extensive consultation with community members.

The Wai‘anae Sustainable Communities Plan provides a vision for the future of Wai‘anae that is intended to guide development in the moku until the year 2020. Its focus is on preservation of the rural landscape and the country lifestyle of the moku's residents. Important elements of the Wai‘anae Sustainable Communities Plan include:

• Preserving and protecting important cultural sites and natural features
• Preserving all lands north of Kepuhi Point as open space lands
• Restricting coastal development makai of Farrington Highway
• Designating town centers and village centers for the major subcommunities in the moku

The Department of Planning and Permitting developed a three-part approach to community involvement. This consisted of 1) one-on-one meetings with individual leaders to obtain their advice and assistance, 2) meetings with small groups and community organizations, and 3) development of a "Community Advisory Committee" made up of representatives from nearly 30 community organizations and agencies. The Community Advisory Committee was invited, in a series of open public meetings, to develop the vision statement for the community and then provide input on the plan that was consistent with that vision.

The Wai‘anae moku is the fifth largest of the eight planning regions that the Department of Planning and Permitting has designated for the island of O‘ahu. Of the eight planning regions, only two, ‘Ewa and the Primary Urban Center, are targeted for significant growth. Wai‘anae and five other regions are considered relatively stable and are not expected to exhibit significant growth in the next 20 years. The Sustainable Communities Plan for Wai‘anae reflects the goal of limited growth and includes policies and guidelines designed to maintain and enhance the Wai‘anae moku's unique character.

Wai‘anae is designated as one of three rural planning regions on O‘ahu, along with the North Shore and Ko‘olauloa regions. Wai‘anae's residents tend to identify with rural, or "country," values. Undeveloped natural features dominate the landscape, such as the ocean, beaches, mountains, and valleys. Developed areas are limited, and there are vast stretches of land that have no structures and that are visited only by those who have lived upon the land and appreciate its cultural and spiritual value. Wai‘anae's rural values and qualities are reflected in several prominent features of the region:

• Hundreds of small farms, primarily in Lualualei and Wai‘anae Valleys
• Extensive open spaces and cultural resources in the five major valleys: Nānākuli, Lualualei, Wai‘anae, Mākaha, and Mākua
• Dramatic natural features including the Wai‘anae mountain range and the miles of shoreline and beaches
• "Small-town" values of the residents, including friendliness and focus on family
• Strong attachments to the land and sea

Physical Setting

The total land area of the Wai‘anae moku is 38,089 acres or 59.5 square miles, almost 10 percent of the total land area of O‘ahu. The landscape encompasses white sand beaches along the coast, a narrow coastal plain, five large valleys that extend from three to five miles inland, and the steep ridges of the Wai‘anae Mountains. The Wai‘anae range includes Mount Ka‘ala, with an elevation of 4,025 feet, which is the highest peak on O‘ahu.

The following sections, introduced below, describe various land uses in the Wai‘anae moku. The development section describes the residential and commercial centers in the region. The importance of agriculture and its historical context in Wai‘anae are also described. Military and public recreational lands are described across the moku, and special focus is given to preservation lands.

Current Land Use Designations

Most of the existing urban and suburban development in the Wai‘anae moku occurs in a narrow swath along Farrington Highway corridor, which runs along the coast. The valleys are largely agricultural or military lands, and the steeper ridges and mountains are generally undeveloped grasslands and forest lands. Mākaha Valley is the only one of the major valleys in the moku that has substantial urban and resort development.

As a result of the Land Use Law, Chapter 205, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, all lands in the State of Hawai‘i are classified in one of four state land use districts: urban, rural, agricultural, or conservation. Most of the Wai‘anae moku is classified as either conservation or agricultural land. Permitted uses in each type of land use district are defined in the statute. The state assumes sole management responsibility in the conservation district, county governments assume sole responsibility in the urban district, and both share responsibilities in the rural and agricultural districts (American Planning Association 1998).

The City and County of Honolulu uses more specific land use classifications. For the Wai‘anae Sustainable Communities Plan, land use categories in the moku included residential development, commercial development, agriculture, recreation and public, preservation, and military (see table).

Of the eight planning regions on O‘ahu, Wai‘anae has the highest percentage (34.2 percent) and the second-highest total acreage of military land. Compared to the other rural planning regions on O‘ahu (North Shore and Ko‘olau Loa), the Wai‘anae moku has more single-family residential acreage (1,991 acres or 3.1 square miles) than both of them combined. Recreational and public lands make up 4.2 percent of the land area.

Wai‘anae has significant areas of natural and cultural resources. These include the higher elevations of the Wai‘anae range, where there are important plant and animal ecosystems, and extensive archaeological sites in undeveloped upper valley areas of Nānākuli, Lualualei, Wai‘anae, Mākaha, and Mākua.

References Cited

American Planning Association Hawaii Chapter. 1998. State Planning Controls, State Land Use Law - Chapter 205: Hawaii Revised Statutes. http://www.7degrees.com/~apahi/state.html

City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning and Permitting. 2000. Waianae Sustainable Communities Plan. http://honoluludpp.org/planning/Waianae/Wai1.pdf

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