Hawaii Community Development Authority holds public hearing on Kalaeloa master plan and rule changes

HONOLULU — The Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority (HCDA) held a public hearing Sept. 3 to present proposed amendments to the Kalaeloa Master Plan and the Kalaeloa Community Development District administrative rules and to collect public testimony. The authority did not take formal action at the hearing; a decision-making hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2025, and written comments are being accepted through Sept. 16, 2025.

HCDA Chair Sterling Higa opened the hearing at 9 a.m. at the American Brewery Building and on Zoom. Ryan Tam, HCDA director of planning and development, told the authority the draft amendments are intended to clarify and streamline land-use permitting in Kalaeloa, establish a new district for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, add special overlay zones to promote a Main Street character along Saratoga Avenue and to protect and interpret historic resources in the Ewa Plain battlefield, and align local rules with city and county definitions on items such as floor area and off-street parking.

Why it matters: HCDA staff said the changes aim to make regulatory outcomes more predictable for developers and residents while incorporating updated cultural- and climate-related policies. The draft also updates development intensity rules, revises permit thresholds, and proposes infrastructure work HCDA says is needed to support future growth in Kalaeloa.

Key changes described by staff - Zoning and density: The draft replaces some parcel-based controls with four transit-oriented typologies (t2–t5). Tam said the typologies use floor-area ratio (FAR) to regulate building mass: t2 (rural) FAR about 0.35, t3 (mixed use) FAR 1.5, t4 (general urban) FAR 2.5 and t5 (urban center) FAR 4.5. Tam described approximate height ranges staff envisions for each typology: t2 about 1–2 stories (roughly 24 feet), t3 generally 3–4 stories (about 60 feet), t4 about 5–6 stories (about 75 feet) and t5 up to roughly 7–9 stories (about 90 feet).

- Saratoga Avenue overlay: A proposed Saratoga overlay frontage zone would promote ground-floor activation and a Main Street character on Saratoga Avenue.

- Historic overlay for Ewa Plain battlefield: Staff described new language to protect and interpret battlefield-era features identified as eligible for historic listing, including runway outlines, wartime buildings and Cold War-era structures. Tam said staff is developing a memorandum of agreement with applicable parties and illustrated conceptual options for integrating preservation with development, such as maintaining a flagpole or visitor interpretation center at former hangar sites.

- Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) district: The draft recognizes DHHL-controlled parcels with a separate designation to reflect DHHL planning authority and federal supremacy over those lands.

- Parking and permit changes: Minimum parking requirements would be removed to align with city policy. Permit thresholds would shift from parcel-area triggers (previously any lot over 40,000 square feet required a development permit) to project-size thresholds (staff cited a 35,000-square-foot project-size threshold in the draft) and would add new permit categories (improvement permits, renovation permits) intended to make small-scale repairs and upgrades easier for homeowners and small businesses.

- Other technical and consistency updates: The draft would adopt the city’s floor-area definitions, expand options for green building certifications beyond LEED, allow designed retention basins to serve recreational uses, and require developers to confirm compliance with State Historic Preservation requirements.

Infrastructure and utilities Tam said HCDA is preparing an infrastructure master plan and working with utilities, including an $18 million project HCDA described as a partnership with the U.S. Navy to transfer customers to the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) grid and upgrades to Saratoga Avenue. Staff also noted coordination with private water providers and efforts to plan for wastewater and stormwater connections needed for future development.

Public testimony and stakeholder views Three members of the public delivered oral testimony. Tara Roxas (signed up as Tara Roxas) asked that HCDA adopt iwi and original place names and raised cultural and environmental concerns, requested an archaeological inventory survey and requested a contested-case hearing under Chapter 91, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes. Roxas also urged stronger protections for Native Hawaiian cultural resources and said proposed housing and leasehold schemes would not be affordable for many local residents.

Quentin Machida, representing Gentry Homes, said his company supports the rule changes and asked HCDA to finalize rules so developers have certainty; he said Gentry Homes will submit written comments.

Paul Kaye, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Hunt Companies in Hawaiʻi, also said his company supports adoption of clear, finalized rules and described several provisions he supports, including removal of minimum FAR requirements, the renovation permit and continued allowance of light industrial uses.

Process and next steps HCDA published the public-hearing notice in multiple island newspapers on July 31, 2025, and HCDA staff said the current draft and a redline summary are posted on the HCDA website. Staff said they will accept written comments through Sept. 16 and plan to post an updated draft by the end of the month; the authority scheduled a decision-making hearing for Nov. 5, 2025, at 9 a.m. (virtual and at the same physical location).

What HCDA members asked and staff clarified Board members asked about the relationship of the historic overlay to ongoing airport operations, the meaning of “eco-industrial” uses mentioned in Board of Water Supply testimony (staff cited desalination as an example), how district boundaries were determined (staff said they largely follow historic federal ownership but that statutory boundaries remain established in state law), and how the plan treats potential transit alignments and future high-capacity transit on Roosevelt Avenue versus Saratoga Avenue. Several members asked staff to add more explicit discussion of interim transit options (for example, bus rapid transit) in case rail does not materialize.

No votes taken No formal motions or votes occurred at the hearing. The authority convened the record, accepted oral testimony in the prescribed order and closed the public hearing. Staff noted they will process comments and return an updated draft for future consideration.

Ending note HCDA will accept written comments on the draft plan and rules through Sept. 16, 2025. HCDA staff and applicants will return to the authority for the scheduled decision-making hearing on Nov. 5, 2025.