Honolulu council to vote on $2M housing project
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu City Council members hold in their hands the fate of a $2 million housing project on the island’s north shore.
Scott Wallace, a movie theater chain owner in Hawaii, wants to redraw land-use boundaries in Haleiwa so he can develop up to 35 house lots.
Wallace is interested in 7 acres of agricultural land. He claims the patch is not viable farmland and is suitable for urban development.
Wallace has worked on the project, which he plans to call Haleiwa Plantation Village, for six years. He bought the property in 2010 for $1.2 million.
The Honolulu Planning commission recently opposed Wallace’s plan and it soon will be up to the City Council to decide.
The commission’s opposition came after the city Department of Planning and Permitting supported the project. Mike Watkins, a planning and permitting official, told the commission the project is supported by city policies and aligns with the area’s existing pattern of land uses.
The opposition worries Wallace’s housing prices will not be reasonable. Some also think the land is still usable for farming, while other residents said the land is not farmable because of an unmanageable apple snail infestation.
Measure would decriminalize drug paraphernalia
HONOLULU (AP) — State House and Senate negotiators agreed to a bill that would decriminalize possession of drug paraphernalia.
Lawmakers met Monday morning and agreed on the bill, which would drastically reduce the penalties for being caught with paraphernalia.
Currently, people caught with items such as marijuana rolling papers or a pipe could be punished to five years in prison or a $10,000 fine. Under the proposed bill, $500 is the most anybody would be fined.
State Rep. Joy San Buenaventura, who introduced the bill, said she expects the decriminalization to reduce overcrowding in the state’s jails.
The measure now advances to the full House and Senate for floor votes. If approved, it will then go to Gov. David Ige for his consideration.
The measure has been strongly opposed by state Attorney General Douglas Chin as well as the Honolulu and Hawaii Island prosecutors.
