ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ

KAHUKU — A controversial plan to build a 220-room Marriott hotel where the Laie country inn once stood moved one step closer to reality Wednesday night, but still has more hurdles to overcome.

The Honolulu City Council’s five-member Zoning Committee unanimously recommended that the full council grant the four-story hotel a special management area permit after more than three hours of public testimony at Kahuku High School. More than 200 people packed the school cafeteria. [PDF] will come before the full City Council on July 6. It would approve one of a handful of permits needed before construction begins.

Council member Ernie Martin, whose district includes the proposed hotel site in Laie and all of Koolau Loa and the North Shore, voted with reservations and said he might yet vote against the proposal if he doesn’t secure amendments to strengthen flood mitigation efforts in the area.

Flooding has been a main gripe from opponents of the project. They are worried that development in the area will contribute to storm water runoff and drainage problems in low-lying areas of Laie. They’ve also complained that a 40-plus-foot-tall hotel won’t fit in with the region’s rural character.

One proponent joked that the two problems could offset each other: When area homes flood, residents can simply stay in rooms in the third floor of the new hotel.

Others were quick to point out that historical flooding hasn’t been limited to Laie and can’t be blamed on Hawaii Reserves, Inc., the Mormon Church-backed development company behind the hotel, or Brigham Young University-Hawaii or the Polynesian Cultural Center.

The developer said its current proposal would actually decrease water runoff by 10 percent thanks to a new underground containment system that will be installed. Hawaii Reserves has also agreed to conduct a watershed study and master drainage plan for the greater community of Laie before it obtains its certificate of occupancy — the last regulatory step that would be needed before guests can stay in the constructed hotel.

But that won’t be good enough for Martin, who told Civil Beat after the 10 p.m. vote that it’s “unacceptable” for his constituents to have to live with regular flooding in their homes.

He said waiting for the studies until after the hotel is built would be “pretty late in the game” and said he expects to work with Zoning Committee Chair Ikaika Anderson on an amendment that would force the hotel to conduct its flooding review work before obtaining final permits and breaking ground.

He also said the project’s Environmental Assessment — which was prepared in July 2008 and determined there would be no significant impact to coastal resources — might be out of date. Heavy rains and flooding in December 2008 may be game changers and could force further environmental review.

Martin’s reservations — and the possibility of a no vote from him — are a threat to the project because it’s his district in question and other council members seemed to defer to him. During deliberations, Anderson asked for Martin’s thoughts first even though Romy Cachola is the committee’s vice chair, and council member Breene Harimoto said in his statements that he’s following Martin’s lead.

Much of the testimony the committee received could well have been delivered when the city held a public meeting to discuss the Envision Laie project and broader development plans in December. Many residents showed up in dueling T-shirts: baby blue with “I support the Koolau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan” and green with “Keep the Country Country.” Many mentioned preserving open spaces or the need to expand BYU.

In recommending his committee pass out the bill, Anderson was careful to point out the limited scope of the matter at hand.

He said his recommendation “does not at all signal my support or this committee’s support for the entire Envision Laie project” and that Hawaii Reserves “will have much work to do” to prove the merits of that plan when it comes before the council.