| Home | About Us | Protecting Hawai‘i | Education | Beautification | Branches | Support Us | Blog |
Save Old Koloa’s Trees
Due to a loophole in Kauai’s permitting process, developer Nelson Co. sued the County of Kauai and was able to get a judgment allowing them to build what is now known as “The Shops at Koloa Town”. This is about a 76,000 sq. ft. mall that will go in on the corner of Maluhia and Koloa Roads, right in the heart of Koloa Town.
The current design calls for the removal of 23 Monkey pod trees, some of which are 50-plus years old. These magnificent trees will be replaced with 12” diameter field stock. The replacement trees will have to be cut back to stubs in order to be transported from the nursery to the site. This is not acceptable to the Kauai Outdoor Circle.
We are working hard here on Kauai to save the Monkey pod Trees. Our President, Maureen Murphy, is a certified Arborist. She is assessing the value of the trees so the developer can fully understand the value of what he is about to destroy. As for me, I am a sign waver and runner, distributing hundreds of flyers and postcards pre-addressed to the developer. Using these cards shoppers can easily let the developer know how they feel about losing the trees. We are working along with the Koloa Community Association and Malama Mahalepu to bring all the attention we can to the plight of the trees.
Please e-mail or write a letter asking the developer to save these trees. He can be reached at:
Mr David Nelson
Nelson Co.
6060 Orchard Lake Rd, Suite 200
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
drnelson @ nelsoncos.com
In your letter also request that he meet with the Koloa Community Association and The Kauai Outdoor Circle to discuss how we can incorporate more of the trees into his plans for the shopping mall. After all, most developers want instant landscaping. This one already has it.
Save Historic Trees in Koloa Town
IMUA – TAKE A STAND!
Monday January 7, 2008
10am – 10pm
Save the Trees
Block Party!
Make signs under the Monkey pod trees
Candlelight Vigil at Sunset
Old Koloa Town = Old Koloa Trees
Developer David Nelson will be on Kauai the week of January 7
Design around the trees, let them live!
Check back for more information
Keep the trees where they are at Magic Island!
The Outdoor Circle is in complete agreement with the Honolulu Star Bulletin. The caption of their editorial, dated August 27, 2007 reads, “Move the stage, not the trees.” We concur.
It all started with an anonymous letter which stated that the city was negotiating with a group to hold a large concert at Magic Island. The trees, it asserted, would block the view of the stage and the city had planned to remove and/or relocate them.
This was hard to believe. TOC staff speaks with the city’s Division of Urban Forestry at least three times a week about various tree issues. No one ever told us about a plan to remove or relocate trees at Magic Island. Nor had they told us about a large concert planned for next spring. We later learned that city employees and consultants were given orders to keep the entire plan under wraps.
We wrote to Honolulu’s Director of Parks and Recreation and learned that it was true! For more than a year the city has been working with a group called Blue Planet Festival. The plan is to hold a two day symposium on energy sustainability and then a two day music and arts festival at Magic Island. Festival promoters hope for 25,000 – 30,000 people to attend the concert this year with plans of growing the annual festival’s attendance to as many as 50,000 in future years.
The irony of this potential debacle was not lost on us. A group claiming to promote sustainable energy and operating under an umbrella of environmental sensitivity wants to rip out and relocate mature trees to improve views for a concert. In addition, the promoters say for several days the event will close all of Magic Island for public use. The only people allowed in will be those who pay for a ticket—price yet to be announced. The event also will restrict public access to and usage of other parts of Ala Moana Beach Park as well.
When we met with the promoters and city officials to learn about the plan they explained that this is the only location on O‘ahu large enough to accommodate the event. Perhaps they’re not familiar with Aloha Stadium? Blue Planet Festival also claimed that the city will benefit because they will leave the park better than when they began. But they were unable to explain what their plan was or how the park would be enhanced. It is hard for us to believe that removing and/or relocating 15 or more trees from the center of Magic Island will enhance it at all.
The Outdoor Circle believes that making permanent changes in a park to accommodate a temporary event is completely unconscionable. We believe it is the City’s responsibility to be a steward of our park lands not a promoter of paid events.
We urge the people of Honolulu to closely monitor this still evolving story. That’s certainly what The Outdoor Circle intends to do.
H-2 Tree Massacre Act 2
On August 6, 2007 six employees from the Department of Transportation (DOT) met with Outdoor Circle (TOC) volunteers and staff to discuss the ongoing tree massacre on the H-2 Freeway. Earlier DOT promised that all tree work on the highway would stop until TOC and its volunteer arborists examined the arborist report, walked the entire site and reviewed a replanting plan, but DOT contractors continued to cut trees leaving three-foot stumps in their wake.
At our sit-down it was agreed by DOT that they made some “mis-steps.” They offered in the future to provide TOC with all work orders their maintenance department issues relating to pruning and removing trees. DOT expressed its hope that in doing so future miscommunications will be avoided.
We believe that the amount of negative attention this project generated took DOT by surprise. At first DOT’s public spokesman claimed the trees were cut because they were dangerous, then he said it was because they were invasive, and finally he claimed it was because they were a fire hazard. None of this was necessarily true and it was clear the DOT was shooting from the hip using any excuse it could find in order to justify the mess it created.
Let’s hope that DOT learned an important lesson…TOC must be consulted before any projects of this magnitude are undertaken again. Our members are always watching. Mahalo to each of you who contacted us frantic for information. We hope that you are satisfied with our actions. We are not finished. In fact, we promise that H-2 will be green again!
DOT Promises to Replace Trees Removed Along H-2
From the State Capitol to Honolulu Hale. From the headquarters of Hawaii’s Big Five Companies to the Makiki shop owner and just about every other corner of Hawai‘i government and business those seven little words “Have you talked to The Outdoor Circle” have been repeated countless times.
But it was exactly the opposite, not talking to The Outdoor Circle, that landed the Department of Transportation (DOT) in a negative light with the cutting and removal of hundreds of trees on the H-2 Freeway.
The massive tree removal began at the end of June and prompted dozens of telephone complaints to our office. We are usually consulted prior to a removal action of this magnitude but unfortunately that didn’t happen this time.
We prefer to have the opportunity to have trees assessed by qualified arborists to determine if they are structurally hazardous or if their locations present a threat to motorists. We did not have the opportunity to do that in this instance and were as surprised as those traveling on H-2 when the work began.
DOT has used every excuse in the book for removing these trees. Scott Ishikawa, the department’s spokesperson, said that a tree limb fell on their emergency call box prompting the clear cutting. In their press release DOT also said they cut down the Albizia, Opiuma and Christmas Berry trees because they were invasive. We believe there are far too many trees of these types classified as invasive species to ever remove them from Hawaii’s landscape, nor would the public stand for that.
It should be stated that The Outdoor Circle is not for saving hazardous trees and had DOT told us in advance and allowed us to walk the site we might have agreed that some number needed to be removed. But 70-100 trees? We think not!
The DOT has promised to replant the area with native trees by the end of the year. You have our promise that we will be reminding them of that promise regularly. And by the way, DOT also has promised to call The Outdoor Circle before taking on a project of this magnitude again.
Technorati Tags: Trees, Billboards, Green, Hawai‘i, OutdoorCircle
Page 1 of 1 pages