Mahalo for taking our survey!Mahalo also to the over 100 of you who sent written comments and ideas, which I am reviewing. They are great!And I look forward to working with our 61 neighbors on legislation for next session!
Below are the results of the May 18 – June 1 survey responses from 250 of you.
Question 1: Sea level rise. One measure would allow the Waikīkī Special Improvement District to fund environmental research, restoration, natural resource management and natural hazard mitigation (SB794). Another would protect Waikīkī shoreline assets from erosion (SB796). How important are these measures for our district?
Conservation and sea level rise are on the minds of 91% of residents in our coastal community; and very important to 66%. It is definitely worth starting work on future plans to ensure our community’s resilience and adaptation to sea level rise. We have begun discussions with UH researchers and will revisit legislation next session.
Question 2: Reduce noise. One bill would have would have increased fines for noisy mufflers on vehicles (SB792). Another would have restricted to certain times the use of noisy leaf blowers in residential areas (SB327). How important are these measures to your quality of life?
It is clear that noise affects the quality of life of a majority of residents and is at least somewhat (32%) or very important (54%) to our community. Also mentioned in your comments as problematic were loud rooftop concerts, amplified street performers, rooftop air conditioners, emergency sirens, garbage trucks, car alarms, helicopters, and people carrying boom boxes. Some of these problems can be mitigated through administrative means while others may require our revisiting the legislation next session.
Question 3: High rises on Kakaʻako’s shoreline. Current law prohibits residential development along the shoreline makai of Ala Moana Blvd. And zoning rules there don’t allow building heights above 200 feet. A bill would have allowed the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to build residential towers up to 400 feet in the area (SB1334). How important is it to you to prevent high rise towers –hotel or residential—from going up along Kakaʻako’s shoreline?
Although 41% of our respondents identified as being from the Ala Moana/Kaka’ako neighborhood, 84% of all respondents agree that it is somewhat (15%) or very important (69%) to prevent building high rise towers along Kaka’ako’s shoreline.
Question 4: Safe neighborhoods. One bill would have blocked offenders who commit three or more misdemeanors in the same district from entering Waikīkī and other business districts (SB790). How important is this bill to protecting our neighborhoods?
While 69% of respondents would like to block repeat offenders from continuing to come into the neighborhood, it is clear that crime is a complex problem and there were some questions as to how this would be implemented. This is one issue that needs more work as it appears all parties including the police, prosecutors, courts, and service providers play a role in isolating problematic individuals and ending the “revolving door” of the criminal justice system. This is what we’re calling, “connecting the dots” and we look forward to doing more work on this matter over the interim.
Question 5: Other issues? There were 144 people who wrote us other issues and also other good suggestions. While we are still reviewing them, at the top of the concerns was homelessness followed by traffic or pedestrian safety, noise, crime, affordable housing, condominium issues, and road/sidewalk maintenance amongst various other issues. We value every one of the responses and will be reviewing in more detail to find ways to address these issues. Some may turn into bills for next session and our team of 61 (and more if others want to join) will use these ideas.
Mahalo again to everyone who filled out this survey. We will also publish the results in our upcoming district-wide newsletter that will be sent out to mailboxes across the district.
