Many thanks to the hundreds of supporters who attended Wednesday's Zoning Committee hearing on the Laie hotel at Kahuku High School cafeteria, and the dozens that testified in favor. The hearing was the first time in years that City Council members have held a meeting in our community.

Hundreds of residents attended the hearing Wednesday night

The Honolulu City Council Zoning Committee reviewed the Laie hotel Special Management Area (SMA) permit application and heard testimony from over 60 people -- most in strong support of the replacement hotel.

Council Zoning Committee members listen to a presentation

At the end of the lengthy meeting, the committee voted in favor to move the permit resolution to a full City Council hearing on July 6. The Council hearing is the last step in the process to get an SMA permit for the redevelopment of the Laie hotel.

The zoning committee's recommendation comes after two previous public hearings and submissions that included substantial testimony in support.

The site of the old Laie Inn is already zoned for hotel and business use; the SMA permit is needed because of the site's proximity to the shoreline. If the SMA permit is granted, building permits for the hotel can be obtained, with groundbreaking anticipated at the end of this year. The goal is to have the hotel open for the Polynesian Cultural Center's 50th Anniversary in 2013.

Testifiers in support of the project noted job opportunities, the need for affordable lodging options for visiting family and friends, benefits to the Polynesian Cultural Center and BYU-Hawaii's hospitality and tourism program.

Kupuna and others sang and danced before the hearing

An article about the hotel hearing appeared in today's Star-Advertiser. Please take a look at the article and feel free to weigh in with an online comment on the newspaper's website. Here's the link to the story (the comments section is below the article): http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/2011060
3_panel_wants_to_study_impact_of_laie_hotel.html. We encourage everyone to respect other points of view and post with aloha.

For more info on the hotel and SMA permit application, please see our February 17, 2011 newsletter available in the Newsletter Archive at www.envisionlaie.com.

We appreciate everyone who took the time to attend the hearing and testify in support - thank you! 

Mahalo,

The Envision Lā'ie Team