The state Land Use Commission (LUC) will meet today (and perhaps tomorrow) at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center to discuss the proposed Olowalu Town project from developers Bill Frampton and Dave Ward that would put at least 1,500 homes and a hotel in Olowalu (click here for the LUC meeting agenda).
The decade-long project has been controversial since the get-go for a variety of reasons (traffic, location, cultural history, potential coral reef devastation, etc.). Two days ago, Archie Kalepa–waterman, big wave surfer, retired Maui County Ocean Safety officer supervisor–recorded a three-minute video (shot by Sam Kapoi) explaining why he thought the project was wrong.
“I’m not in favor of the Olowalu development for many reasons,” Kalepa says in the video. “If they develop Olowalu into a community and a hotel, the effect it will have on that ecosystem–the waterfront and the reefs–will be such a great impact that it will socially ruin that reef. When I say ‘socially,’ I’m talking about the fishes, the sharks, all the marine life that exist… Olowalu’s one of the few places we have left. I don’t think that from an environmental standpoint that it’s a good idea for us to develop that area.”
You can watch the entire video below:
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