Kailua worries predate Target
Star-Advertiser writer Vicki Viotti asks Mitch D'Olier, president and CEO of Kaneohe Ranch, "What was the threshold that Target crossed" that resulted in community opposition. He answers, "I'd love to know" (Star-Advertiser, Aug. 27).
We answer as current residents of Kailua where our family has lived continuously since 1929, and as participants in the 2003 survey and the 2004 community planning process.
From our perspective, the threshold was crossed and the tipping point reached before Target even entered the picture. In the last five years, Kaneohe Ranch has developed a new Longs and parking garage; Pier 1 and California Pizza Kitchen; the current construction of a 32,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market plus 8,000 square feet of retail space; and 151 Hekili Street -- 19,000 square feet of retail and office space at one of the busiest intersections in Kailua across from the proposed Target.
We call on Kaneohe Ranch to take a time out and commission an independent assessment of the impacts of its redevelopment on the quality of life in Kailua and the community values defined in the 2004 Community Plan. Because, as he notes, "the real customers are Kailua residents."
Barbara Pope and Deborah Pope
Kailua
Kailua
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