Planners approve state permit for Kualoa Ranch expansion

Dec. 17—The Honolulu Planning Commission has voted to adopt a state special-use permit to allow Kualoa Ranch Inc. to expand business operations at its Windward Oahu property.

The Honolulu Planning Commission has voted to adopt a state special-use permit to allow Kualoa Ranch Inc. to expand business operations at its Windward Oahu property.

Under the special-use permit, Kualoa Ranch desires to operate, display and sell nonagricultural products, do facility improvements and increase the scale and hours of operations within approximately 14.75 acres of the nearly 4, 000-acre ranch in Kaaawa.

Moreover, the recreational, agricultural and ecotourism enterprise also wants additional parking at its headquarters ; operate a proposed preschool and day care center for children 3 to 5 years old at its Hakipuu property ; have a movie exhibit at Battery Cooper ; and offer weddings and group events at Kaaawa Agricultural Facility, Ranch House Terrace, Paliku Gardens and Molii Gardens, documents state.

Prior to Friday's vote on the permit, no one from the public testified on this action item during a less than 15-minute meeting.

But commission Chair Pane Meatoga III did request that part of the special-use permit's language be amended with regard to Kualoa Ranch having to receive city-run neighborhood board approval to host special events of under 500 attendees.

In particular, he asserted two area neighborhood boards—Koolau Loa and Kahaluu—were affected by a sentence which read, "Both neighborhood boards shall approve the event."

Meatoga, who also chairs the Koolau Loa Neighborhood Board, asked that the word "shall " be removed, and instead be replaced with "may."

"My take on that is if you do 'shall, ' you're automatically saying that the board will have to approve because it is 'shall, '" he said. "From a legal perspective you probably want to put 'may' in there ... so that we're not overreaching and dictating to a neighborhood board what it can and cannot do."

But others, like commission member Kai Nani Kraut, said "the intent was to gain (neighborhood board ) approval."

"I feel the intent of the sentence should still be there, but I also understand the reservations that were expressed previously, " she added. "So I would prefer to keep the sentence in there. I'm not tied to 'shall', 'may' or 'given the opportunity.' The intent was to report out on whether the neighborhood boards approved it, and how the applicant proceeded based on that presentation to the boards."

Later, Vice Chair Ryan Kamo offered an amendment which stated, "Both neighborhood boards shall be given the opportunity to approve the event."

Ultimately, the panel voted to approve the amendment.

According to its permit application, Kualoa Ranch encompasses an area within three ahupuaa : Hakipuu, Kualoa and Kaaawa.

"The non-agricultural retail, preschool, wedding and event uses at Kualoa Ranch will not alter the character of the surrounding area in a manner substantially limiting, impairing or precluding the use of surrounding properties for the principal uses permitted in the underlying agriculture, conservation and urban districts, " Kualoa Ranch's special-use permit application states. "The Kualoa Ranch land has been in agricultural use since the time prior to Dr. Gerrit P. Judd's purchase from King Kamehameha III in 1850."

"Between 1863 and 1870, the first sugar mill on Oahu, Kualoa Sugar Mill, was built and operated by his son, Charles H. Judd. ... Cattle ranching operations began in the 1870s, after the demise of sugar at the Ranch, and continues today, " planning documents state.

By the early 1980s, the ranch began diversifying its income sources and shifted toward recreational enterprises to financially support itself.

"In 1985, the Ranch offered services that catered to visitors, including horseback riding, jet skiing, helicopter rides, scuba diving, windsurfing, and canoe rides, " documents state.

Before the meeting, Dina Wong, the city Department of Planning and Permitting's planning division chief, said Kualoa Ranch has operated on a special-use permit first approved in 1985.

"The 1985 approval didn't include many of the non-agricultural uses being conducted on the Ranch today, " she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser via email. "Their most recent SUP application, 2022 /SUP-4, was accepted for processing on Oct. 13, 2022."

The new permit supersedes the 1985 SUP, she said, adding there "is no annual review process for the existing 1985 SUP."

"However, DPP required the Ranch to update their SUP to comply with the State Land Use Law, " Wong said. "The new SUP will have a condition of approval requiring Kualoa Ranch to submit an annual compliance report to DPP and present that report to the Planning Commission in person for the first three years of the permit."