Life
of the Land's Land Use Campaigns
Fake Farms
(July 23, 2007)
Land of
plenty:
Can O‘ahu’s available farm land support the entire population? by Keith
Bettinger / 04-18-2007
Last
year one of my professors in the Geography department at the
University of Hawai‘i-Manoa asked my geographic information systems
class to figure out how many people could be fed solely by resources
available on O‘ahu.
Obayashi Hawaii proposed
to convert prime agricultural lands overlooking the Banzai Pipeline at
Sunset Beach, on O`ahu's North Shore into the luxury Lihi Lani
development. They alleged that the 1100+ acre parcel would be an
agricultural development since each house would have at least one tree
on its property that could be harvested every forty years. The City
Council approved the project in 1995 on a 5-4 vote. Save Sunset Beach
Coalition and Life of the Land sued. The Hawai`i Supreme Court issued a
split decision, allowing the project to continue but also allowing the
opponents to file a future court case after the property was
subdivided. Obayashi failed to follow through, and the community went
about seeking to acquire it. In 2004 some people suggested acquiring
the land and converting it to conservation land. We noted the hypocrisy
of that approach. Our lawsuit argued that prime agricultural land must
be used for agriculture. Irregardless of the final disposition of the
land, its use should remain in agriculture. LOL
2004 Testimony.
LOL
Letter re Aina Haina
Life
of the Land is a Hawaii-based, Hawaii-focused
environmental and community action group. Founded in 1970, the mission
of Life of the Land is to preserve and protect the life of the land
through sustainable land use and energy policies and to promote open
government through research, education, advocacy and, when necessary,
litigation. We believe that people are part of the environment. We are
known for research, research, research. We cover complex issues such as
genetic engineering, climate change, and quality of life issues. LOL is
a 501(c)3 charitable organization. We do not attend fundraisers,
testify for/against political and/or administrative candidates, nor do
we rank candidates. We work on issues not people.
Contact: Life of the Land, 76
North King Street, Suite 203, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817, Email:
lifeoftheland@hotmail.com Executive Director: Henry Curtis,
henry.lifeoftheland@gmail.com * Assistant Executive Director: Kat
Brady,
katbrady@hotmail.com
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