Printed in The Maui News: January 13, 2010
By Harry Eagar, Staff Writer
MAKAWAO – After visiting with community groups, the developers of the Piiholo South very-low-density housing project in Makawao have changed their plans to make it an all-senior housing project, instead of mixing seniors with other residents.
Cynthia Warner and Zack Franks also have started discussions that could bring Hale Mahaolu in as a partner on 10 acres of the 60-acre project.
The developers have water: After the county passed the “Show Me the Water Ordinance,” they drilled a well on their property across from St. Joseph Church and hit a gusher, at least 1.7 million gallons per day. But they now need to persuade the county Planning Department and the Maui County Council to place their agricultural land within the new urban-growth boundary for Makawao.
Warner calls it a “natural in-fill” project for Makawao town. And “the need is enormous” for senior housing, she said.
Already convinced of that two years ago, the developers learned from meeting with the Olinda and Kula community associations and Makawao Main Street Association that Upcountry residents are also persuaded. The message they got was, make it all for seniors, and “we can’t build it quick enough,” Warner said.
They propose senior housing different from anything else on Maui and perhaps anywhere in the islands.
Warner and Franks purchased 325 acres along Piiholo Road, from the intersection with Makawao Avenue up to the University of Hawaii invasive species research site. They intend to keep most of it in agriculture and open space, with the exception of a senior community on the lower 60 acres that would hold about 100 cottages on 750 to 1,600 square feet, a commercial kitchen, and a community center and gardens.
They have suggested donating 10 acres to Hale Mahaolu. That would accommodate 100 residences, with the possibility of an extended care building with room for 12 to 15 additional residents.
Roy Katsuda, administrator of Hale Mahaolu, said the agency’s 40-unit Makawao apartments (next to the post office) have a waiting list years’ long, “so there is sufficient demand.”
Franks and Warner will make a presentation to the Hale Mahaolu directors on Jan. 27, and if the board concurs, the subsidized senior housing could become a component of what Franks calls a conceptual plan.
If a memorandum of understanding is reached, Katsuda said, then Hale Mahaolu would probably commit itself to supporting the inclusion of Piiholo South in the urban-growth boundary. It would still require rezoning.
Although Hale Mahaolu has not previously worked alongside a commercial housing project, Katsuda said Monday: “I think it is an acceptable way” to obtain specialized housing.
The possibility of comprehensive facilities is also attractive. At the 115-unit Kihei facility (next to Hope Chapel), Hale Mahaolu is phasing in additional services beyond just dwellings.
Franks envisages Piiholo South as a community devoted to growing its own vegetables, hiking “miles of trails” and perhaps even clubbing together in “co-housing.”
At many senior housing communities, there are assisted-living units, where, at a minimum, the residents eat together in a dining room (sometimes like a cafeteria, sometimes more like a restaurant), instead of cooking for themselves.
Typically, this is one of the services of the operator; but at Piiholo South, Franks is contemplating something a bit different.
This is modeled on a community he lived in in Portland, Ore., where there were 15 freestanding houses, but the owners had a commercial kitchen, where they hired cooks and servers and bought their food and ate together.
As developers, Warner and Franks are proposing to provide a commercial kitchen in a community center. But since they intend to sell the cottages, they would not operate a dining room. If the owners wished, though, they could club together to manage their own congregate meals.
Part of Franks’ inspiration was his father’s experience. Franks said his father lived on a farm outside San Diego until he was 85, but “was lonely.” After moving to a retirement community called Leisure World, he was much happier. That’s the kind of environment Franks wants to create Upcountry.
At the moment, Franks and Warner cannot say what price range they are aiming for with their 100 cottages, although they are hoping to keep them “affordable.”
Franks said he consulted several builders and was told the construction price for a 1,600-square-foot building would be $400,000. So he is shopping around.
The Maui Island Plan, including the Upcountry urban-growth boundaries, will be discussed at meetings from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Haiku Community Center and Jan. 20 at the Mayor Hannibal Tavares Community Center in Pukalani.
