Mililani
residents oppose
development plan

Castle & Cooke is
planning to construct 14 homes
on a site that has been used
for classrooms since 1974

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Castle & Cooke plans to raze a cluster of house shells that has been used as classrooms since 1974 to build 14 new homes at Leleaka Place in Mililani.

Some area residents, however, are opposed to the project.

The Mililani/Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board will address the issue Wednesday when it meets at Mililani Recreation Center 3 at 95-281 Kaloapau St. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m.

Harry Saunders, senior vice president and general manager of Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii, said developers agreed to construct 11 house shells in a cul-de-sac 24 years ago so the Department of Education could use them as classrooms.

The cul-de-sac serves as an auxiliary campus for Mililani Uka Elementary School.

Lanikuhana Avenue divides the two campuses.

"At the time, there was a need for school buildings and the house shells were built to help the state out," Saunders said.

"They were leased to the state, which was planning to use them for three to five years.

"It kept getting rolled over and here it is 1998."

With the new Mililani Middle School taking sixth-graders, the state recently terminated its lease with Castle & Cooke, Saunders said.

Castle & Cooke plans to build 14 new homes in the cul-de-sac. Demolition of the termite-eaten house shells and five garages will begin next week, he said.

Laura Brown, president of the Mililani Complex PTSA, said the house shells should be used for education since the state has invested millions in leasing them.

"We should keep the buildings as backup in case the Middle School campus cannot open on schedule," Brown said.

"Or it can be used as a learning center.

"The PTSA would be willing to look for grants and private funding to maintain it."

Nahokupa Place resident Terry Rude, who lives in back of Leleaka Place, says the new houses Castle & Cooke plans to construct will change the character of the neighborhood.

"The new homes are going to be bigger," Rude said.

"We're 4-1/2 feet lower than the Uka shells so if they build bigger, it's going to affect the flow of air and our privacy.

"They are also going to invite the termites to our houses."

The project calls for a mixture of single-level and two-story homes.

"We're building homes people will want to buy and our architects believe the styles will fit comfortably in the neighborhood," Saunders said.