Just what we need…make the country just like town
Turtle Bay wants to build five new hotels, residents aren’t happy
Andrew Pereira
The number of tourists visiting Oahu’s North Shore has skyrocketed.
Now Turtle Bay Resort is trying to capitalize on the area’s popularity.
Turtle Bay wants to build five new hotels.
Because of an agreement with the city 20 years ago, it could be difficult to stop the project.
Some North Shore locals call Turtle Bay the last resort.
But the owner of the hotel, Oaktree Capital Management, has other plans.
The company wants to build five new hotels on its 880 acres.
“We estimate between two and three thousand jobs will be created once this project is completely built out,” says Turtle Bay spokesman.
A diagram shows the scope of the project.
The light areas show where the new hotels will be built.
Two of the hotels would be built on either side of Turtle Bay.
Another would go up at Kahuku Point.
Two more would be built at secluded Kawela Bay.
Mary Moore has owned a house at Kawela for 40 years.
She says the project will impact her family and many others.
“This house would obviously go to our boys and we would like their children to have the same growing up that they had,” says Moore.
On Wednesday, retired North Shore lifeguard Mark Cunningham passed out flyers, warning residents about the project.
“Poor old Kam Highway, it’s two lanes, it’s near a hundred years old, how can it possibly hold any more cars?” says Cunningham. “Development like that should stay in Waikiki and Kapolei, Koolina.”
Right now one of the quickest ways into Kawela Bay is past a no trespassing sign. The hotel’s agreement with the city calls for better beach access and 50 acres of parks. Some residents say five new hotels is too big a price.
“I’m not going to take a handful of parks for four or five hotels, no way,” says Cunningham.
“It’s kind of sad because pretty much the North Shore is going to become Waikiki,” says Daniel Russon, North Shore.
The plan to build five new hotels was approved by the Honolulu City Council in 1986.
The zoning has no end date.
There are those who still support the project.
“If they increase the four or five hotels that they want to, then it will open up for many more jobs and the local people can stay here,” says Don Hurlbut, Kahuku Community Association.
But North Shore residents like Cunningham are ready for a fight.
“We can slow this, we can stop it, we can prevent this atrocity from happening in the country,” says Cunningham.
The new development would also feature condominiums, but at least 51 percent of the new units must be hotel rooms.