Private Islands
Are gated communities the future of Hawai‘i real estate?

Alan D. McNarie, Rob Lafferty, Joan Conrow, D.G. "Andy" Anderson

March 26, 2003

Big Island Kapu
     The dividing line couldn’t be clearer. Southward, a public trail called the Old Government Road winds through dry coastal wilderness. Northward, the trail suddenly disappears under a restaurant pavilion ’s lawn and the greens of a new golf course.
     Just north of that transition, Jack Kelly pointed to a row of fence posts.
     “You see those posts right there?” he said. “They want to lead us down the hill, off the lawn. This is what they wanted to do long ago. The cute little bastards. They never give up.”
     Kelly is vice president of Protect Keopuka ‘Ohana, a citizen ’s group fighting a seven-year legal battle against Hokulia, a gated, 1,550- acre residential/golf-course development that ’s shouldering its way into the South Kona scrublands. Kelly ’s group has a court order allowing it to inspect the development to protect its ancient Hawaiian burial sites, trails and cultural sites. This reporter has come along on one of those watch- dog tours.
     Since passing the Hokulia ’s “greeting station,” we were tailed by a succession of SUVs containing employees of 1250 Oceanside, a partnership that includes an Arizona-based developer and Japan Airlines. Our watchdog- watcher left his vehicle and was standing a few yards away.
     “They ’re taking pictures,” he told his walkie-talkie.
     “Let me know what they ’re taking pictures of,” the walkie-talkie barked back.
     At the coastal “park ”that the company has opened to the public —25 cars at a time —we found golf-cart tracks within a couple of feet of ancient ruins. Everywhere, it seemed, there were new rock walls, surrounding known Hawaiian burial sites. Each such site had a sign bearing the words: “Kapu: Culturally Sensitive Area.”
     If Hokulia survives its court challenges, it will become a triple-gated community. Oceanside will give the county the main road to the coast, but will keep its “greeting station ”at the road ’s head, where company employees will record the names of everyone entering. Steel gates and stone walls will bar each side street. Within those enclaves are the “kapu ”sites, protected by their own walls and gates, through which only maintenance employees and recognized Native Hawaiian descendants may pass.
     “The basic reason for gated communities is safety, especially for residences that aren’t occupied year round,” said Oceanside spokesperson Karin Shaw, who cited “the rise of crime and the ice epidemic ”as one factor driving the move toward gated communities. Former Hawai ‘i County Council member Nancy Pisicchio has fought Hokulia since 1993, when she helped gather 1,200 signatures in two and a half weeks for a petition against the development.
     The project survived a County Council zoning showdown by one vote, with the help of generous campaign contributions and a pledge to build a much-needed bypass highway in the area. After that vote, Pisicchio joined in a law- suit that forced the developer to recognize Old Government Road as a state right-of-way and kept fairways out of the shoreline conservation district.
     “ In order to develop a residential subdivision in the state agriculture district, they ’re claiming that those luxury homes are farm dwellings, which is ridiculous,” noted Pisicchio, a South Kona farmer. If agricultural lands become fair game for gated luxury communities, she believes, rising land prices could drive out legitimate farmers in Kona ’s famous “Coffee Belt.”
     Ironically, current state law allows golf courses as an “agricultural ” use. But the court ruled against Hokulia ’s plans for a large clubhouse, and the state Land Use Commission declared that plans for a sister development further south at Kealakekua called Keopuka Lands constituted an illegal use of agricultural-zoned property. Opponents still hope the court will stop Hokulia entirely. The financial stakes in this battle are enormous. Hokulia is advertising lots for $1 million to $8 million a piece, and plans 750 residential lots. Company officials say the subdivision will generate $8 million to $10 million in annual personal income for Hawai ‘i residents and over $8 million a year in county tax revenues.
     Among community benefits, spokesperson Shaw said, are the 140-acre, conservation-zoned “passive shoreline park,” which, she said, grants public access to this stretch of coast for the first time in generations.
     Recognized lineal or cultural descendants can “come down to visit the burial sites whenever they wish,” Shaw said. But she added, “If somebody needed to go to private property that was gated, they would have an escort for security.”
     Just north of Hokulia lies Kuamo ‘o, the battlefield where Christian converts under King Liholiho defeated supporters of the ancient Hawaiian kapu system that enforced privileges for Hawaiian royal castes. The advent of Hokulia may form a new, double-kapu system, overlaying the rights of native Hawaiians with the rights and privileges of the new elite. The result is a strange landscape of graves and greens, of gates within gates and walls within walls.
     —Alan D. McNarie

Maui’s Moats
     The people who speak in favor of gates are limited to those who build them, live in them or wish that they did. Most islanders tend to see gates as a divisive force, a denial of the spirit of aloha. Community activist and television talk-show host Buck Joiner lives in Kïhei and has strong feelings on the subject of restricted communities.“ They ’re the most heinous thing I’ve seen happen to Maui,” said Joiner. “I want to put gates outside their gates and send the message that we don ’t want those people in our neighborhoods, either.”
     Maui County ’s new planning director, Mike Foley, doesn’t much care for them, either. “In general,” he said, “I dislike the idea of gated communities. I don ’t like people being prohibited from driving into areas of the island.”
     He did, however, acknowledge that certain circumstances may justify gates or guards and cited the posh Kapalua Plantation Estates subdivision as one example. “Gates and restricted access may be justifiable in that case, where multimillion dollar vacation homes are empty much of the year.”
     “But gates are often used to isolate homeowners from the larger community, ”Foley said. “They’ve been used in the past to allow the developer to install substandard infrastructure. That ’s not good for anybody.”
     A gated-subdivision proposal goes through the same approval process as any other type of housing project, with one difference: The law doesn’t allow gates across county roads. Interior roads must be privately owned, maintained by the homeowners and constructed to meet county standards.
     For many parents, part of the appeal of gated communities is the belief that their kids can bike, skate and scoot around on safer road- ways than in an open subdivision. Although gated subdivisions are not yet common on Maui —by my count there are currently 10 — there are three gated developments planned at Wailea and two under construction on former cane fields in central Maui.
     The Wailea-Mäkena region has four gated communities and one under construction. Several more are pending in a 670-acre, hillside development known as Wailea 670.
     Originally planned as one large gated community, the designers of Wailea 670 heard the public protests and made a change. Instead of one main gate at the point of entry, there will be several smaller gated neighborhoods within the development. Upcountry, the gated Maunaolu Estates agricultural subdivision now under way in Makawao with 39 2-acre lots has been controversial, mainly because critics charge the developer is using the ag-land designation to build luxury estates.
     In recent months, a different kind of gate has been drawing lots of attention. In Waiehu, landowner/ developer Robin Williams (not the actor)illegally blocked traditional beach access at three different locations on his long, narrow, waterfront property. He refused to unlock the gates or remove the barriers until local complaints caused the county to enforce the law. Future building plans include entry gates, which will cause more contention if they restrict access to the shore.
     Gates were recently installed across a paved beach-access path traversing the ultra-expensive residential enclave at Wailea Point in South Maui. The gates aren’t locked, but users of the popular scenic walkway are concerned that (illegal) locks might appear at anytime, whenever the homeowners ’ association decides to restrict access. On Feb. 27, new Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa shocked the island by suggesting that all upscale housing projects on Maui — gates or no gates —might, in fact, be deferred indefinitely. Arakawa said he wants to “prioritize ”the available island water for homes priced with- in the reach of local families, gates not included.
     —Rob Lafferty
    
Gating Kauai
     When a Colorado-based developer announced plans three years ago to develop the Kealia Kai gated community on Kaua ‘i ’s east side, the public reaction was swift and vociferous. And it wasn’t just the notion of yet more expensive house lots being created for the super rich that stuck in folks’ craw. Residents also objected to the location of the project: right along the heretofore wild and spectacular coast (including the popular Kuna, or “Donkey,” beach) and smack in between an old sugar camp at Kealia and the Hawaiian Homelands of Anahola. Suddenly, it seemed, wealthy Mainland haole were no longer content to dominate the North Shore and Po‘ipü. Now they were encroaching on what was clearly the domain of locals.
     “Every time I drive by that project I put a curse on it, and I know I ’m not the only one,” said Hawaiian woman living in Anahola, who asked that her name not be used. “I always think, What the hell are they doing on this part of the island? They have nothing in common with us, they don ’t want to deal with us, and putting up a gate makes that even more clear.”
     Kaua ‘i has had little experience with gated communities. Currently, just Seacliff Plantation outside Kïlauea town and Queen Emma ’s Bluffs, an upscale project in the tony resort community of Princeville, are gated. Once homes are built at Kealia Kai —land sales have been lethargic there —it ’s set to have a gate blocking public access, too. But gated projects clearly aren’t well-received by local residents. “Basically, it ’s a way of saying ‘Fuck you ’to the community,” said local author and activist Ken Stokes.
     Kapa ‘a attorney Peter Morimoto, who previously served as legal counsel to the Kaua ‘i County Planning Commission, said nothing in state law prohibits gated communities. However, the commission recognizes that such neighborhoods generally run counter to prevailing community values on the Garden Island, and, since the early 1990s, it has been requiring developers to keep new projects open as a condition of granting county zoning and subdivision approval.
     The problem arises when gated communities (such as Kealia Kai) are developed as agricultural subdivisions, an increasing practice on Kaua ‘i that precludes public participation and most governmental controls — unless some of the land falls within the Special Management Area. “Gated communities are intended to segregate the haves from the have-nots, ”said Linda Bennett of Kapa ‘a. “And while that may wash on the North Shore, where there ’s already a lot of expensive homes and rich people, it definitely doesn’t fit the east side, where most people are poor or just middle class.”
     Despite public opposition, then- Mayor Maryanne Kusaka became a crusader for Kealia Kai, befriending developer Thomas McCloskey ’s on-island representatives, Justin and Michele Hughes, and frequently championing their gift of a 50-acre coastal park to the county. Kusaka even went so far as to stage a cleanup at the clothing- optional Kuna beach, which the developer wanted to patrol with private security forces.
     Kusaka’s close relations with the developer were further apparent during a public hearing on the park dedication last year, when her top aide, Wally Rezentes Sr., sat with the Hughes in a private chamber to watch the proceedings. In a gesture that did not go unnoticed, Rezentes even went back into the public meeting room to collect Michele Hughes’ purse. Kusaka ’s county engineer, Cesar Portugal, granted the developer an after-the-fact permit for extensive grubbing and clearing at Kuna beach.
     Folks simply couldn’t understand why Kusaka was seemingly going out of her way to help the project succeed, and the rumor quickly spread that she had been promised one of the million-dollar house lots. Kusaka denied the claim and said she couldn’t fathom why residents thought she was in the developer’s pocket. When asked about the purse-collecting and permit episodes, she said she couldn’t control everything her staff did.
     Kusaka said her supportive actions were justified because she felt she was helping the community by securing the coastal park dedication, and that the property taxes to be paid by future homeowners would benefit the county ’s treasury. She was joined in her advocacy by former County Councilman Bryan Baptiste, who was himself elected mayor last November. In the hearing on the park dedication, where speakers delivered more than a dozen hours of testimony on why the gift should be rejected unless restrictive conditions were eliminated, Baptiste chided citizens for their ungrateful attitude.
     Most of the opposition centered around plans to allow the developer’s private security forces to patrol the park and Kuna beach. Developer McCloskey said homeowners in his exclusive enclave had special security needs that warranted the patrols, even though a Kaua ‘i police officer testified that Kuna beach has never been a hotbed of criminal activity. The Council finally rejected that provision after citizens presented the panel with photographs showing security guards riding ATVs on the beach and harassing beachgoers.
     Still, it had become clear to residents that Kaua ‘i ’s political leaders seem to be more receptive to clinking coins than cries of public opposition. Furthermore, many felt that Kealia Kai and its gate make a clear statement that island residents are viewed with alarm and disdain by wealthy homebuyers. Apparently, their beliefs are justified, if the comment made by a real-estate agent selling Kealia Kai is any indication. “If you ’re gonna pay that much money for a lot,” he said, “why should you have to deal with the poor trash of the island?”
     —Joan Conrow
    

In the private realm: A defense of gated communities
     A few months ago, USA Today published a report on the growing popularity of gated communities. Its reporter, Haya El Nasser, found that, in cities and suburbs from New York to Los Angeles, wealthy homeowners no longer are the only ones retreating behind gates. “In a nation still confronting post-9/11 jitters, living behind walls and knowing your neighbors create a safety zone for many,” Nasser wrote.
     According to the U.S. Census Bureau ’s 2001 American Housing Survey, more than 7 million households —about 6 percent of the national total —are in developments behind walls and fences. About 4 million are in communities where access is controlled by gates, entry codes, key cards or security guards.
     Hawai ‘i is no different. But every subdivision is different. Each one must be designed, planned and developed to maximize the qualities of the parcel, to complement the adjacent neighborhood and, without question, to attract buyers.
     When I was originally offered the 19 acres of land at Velzyland (pictured above),I thought the seller had made a mistake, as I did not believe that such a large parcel of oceanfront land was available on O‘ahu. I was wrong. It was beautiful and held great potential for quality residential development, one that we are calling Sunset Beach Colony.
     Aside from that, the parcel had all the zoning and all the utilities it needed. The question then, was, How do you utilize this one-of-a-kind parcel?
     Because of the existing neighborhood lot sizes, we decided to be consistent, so we reduced the density below the legal limit. Our subdivision would accommodate 29 parcels instead of the 45-plus parcels we were entitled to. Less density and bigger lots were important to us as it also fit directly into the county ’s long-range Rural Country Plan for the North Shore.
     Once the density decision was made, it somewhat dictated the balance of the questions that needed to be addressed. How do we now maximize this gorgeous parcel of land and pay all of the development costs and still end up with a reasonable profit?
     Because of its location, we suspected that the project would attract not just local buyers but out-of-state, second-home buyers as well.
     That ’s when consideration of a gated community came into play, for several reasons.
     Security: For many off-island buyers, a Velzyland home will be their second residence. Gates provide some level of security, safety and privacy.
     Land value: In a unique residential subdivision, privacy means exclusivity and therefore increases property values. Adding an attractive automatic entry gate system could easily add $30,000 or more in value (I hope)to each parcel.
     Liability: Our interior road is private, and its maintenance and upkeep will be borne by the property owners who will legally own the road. No gate at this particular location meant inviting dozens of surfers to park on the road and creating a liability problem. Every fender bender and pedestrian accident would involve the property owners in a slew of potential lawsuits. This was not acceptable.
     In summary, the desire to provide a quality development, to protect absentee owners, to reduce the liability of the road and to address security concerns contributed greatly to the final decision of developing gated community.
     But many gated communities, especially on the waterfront, become controversial when they deny public access to the beach. Not so at Velzyland. The east end of the property will be a dedicated park with parking and direct access to the beach. And a public pedestrian right- of-way is planned through the middle of the subdivision. In fact, for the very first time in years, the public will have legal access to the beach and surf site.
     With a little give-and -take, a gated community need not be negative if government, developer and the community all work to understand the goals and needs of each. Velzyland will set a good example for others to follow.
     —D.G. “Andy” Anderson