Mo'ili'ili struggles with its changing dual personality
By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
| |||
 |
|
||
| |||
|
|
||
| |||
|
|
||
For some, Mo'ili'ili is a place to be proud of — a community rich in history and culture, where small businesses thrive and antique homes hide amid the slew of walkups and squatty office buildings constructed during a boom in the 1960s and '70s.
To others, perhaps those who drive through it on their way elsewhere, Mo'ili'ili is a hodgepodge of regrettable architecture, where transience is a way of life for low-income families and college students, and the scars of urban sprawl are achingly visible in the miles of bumpy asphalt streets, crumbling walkups and humble storefronts.
These opposing views are at the center of a new debate — taking place in both boardrooms and community halls — as landowner Kamehameha Schools, the University of Hawai'i, a dormitory developer and longtime residents plan for the future of the community amid increased stress on traffic, parking and property prices.
"So many things are coming around the bend," said the Rev. Neal MacPherson, of the Church of the Crossroads on University Avenue. "The university apparently has done some work in envisioning what they want to see, but we don't know what that is. Every now and then, we hear rumors about a new project. And there's light rail.
"How will all that change the whole ambience and development of this area?"
The Mo'ili'ili stakeholder talks are happening separately, but all at once:
The repair station will be demolished to make way for a parking lot in the short term.
FEAR OF CHANGE
With plans for the future brewing, residents worry that changes — perhaps meant to vitalize the neighborhood — will end up destroying the cherished remnants of old Mo'ili'ili and driving out longtime, family-owned businesses.
Many of those who live in Mo'ili'ili say the community of 26,000 has long been a victim of ill-planned growth. And they fear an exodus of longtime Mo'ili'ili families will only worsen if more dormitories spring up in the neighborhood and traffic worsens.
Already, the homeownership rate in Mo'ili'ili is well below other communities at 28 percent, and renters occupy about 64 percent of the neighborhood's 14,000 homes and apartments, 2000 Census figures show. The community is also aging: 15 percent of residents are older than 65, and the average homeowner is 56, according to the Census.
For six decades, Varsity Motors was a landmark in Mo'ili'ili. Year after year, it attracted loyal customers who were as sentimental about the family-owned auto-repair shop as they were about their favorite restaurant, boutique or movie theater.
When the shop lost its lease with Kamehameha Schools this month and closed its doors, residents and customers were angry. Some saw the decision to demolish Varsity Motors as indicative of how Kamehameha operates — and worried about what more they should expect as the institution steps up its presence in Mo'ili'ili.
"I'm one of those very concerned people," said Laura Ruby, a University of Hawai'i art professor and editor of "Mo'ili'ili — The Life of a Community."
"They'll drive out whatever existing mom and pops are out there. We'll have something that looks like Kapolei. And is that really what we want?"
But Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said the institution has no grand plans for Mo'ili'ili, and added Varsity Motors had been on a year-to-year lease since the 1990s.
"We certainly are sensitive to the unique nature of Mo'ili'ili as a community and a place to do business," Paulsen said, adding several Mo'ili'ili residents had contacted the institution to air their complaints. "There's no plan we're trying to execute."
Over the coming year, Kamehameha will review its properties in the neighborhood and draft a master plan. Many of the leases Kamehameha Schools has with businesses in Mo'ili'ili are set to expire sometime in the next decade.
Ron Lockwood, chairman of the Mo'ili'ili/McCully Neighborhood Board, said Kamehameha Schools and other big Mo'ili'ili stakeholders — including the University of Hawai'i — have done little to assure residents the character of the community will remain the same after all their plans are complete. The institutions have also done little, he said, to share their proposals with a wide audience and get comment.
TRUST NOT READY YET
For their part, officials at Kamehameha Schools say it's too early to talk to the neighborhood about their proposals. The university will make presentations on its long-range development to three neighborhood boards in the coming months, ideally before the plan goes before the Board of Regents in November or December.
"It would just be very nice to sit down with the business group and the trust (Kamehameha Schools) and say, 'What do we want this neighborhood to look like?'" Lockwood said. "If Kamehameha Schools wants to do these things, if the university wants to do these things, what's in it for the community?"
Karl Kim, chairman of the University of Hawai'i urban planning department and a member of the long-range development board, also said the community's big landowners need to do a better job of talking to residents and small-business owners.
"Each of these big institutions, they have their own interests and priorities, which may or may not be at odds with the development of this as a community," he said. "The idea is to get all of these players and get all of these interest groups on the same page and try to work on a strong plan for this area. It's going to take a real effort."
Still, many have doubts the community can come together to save the soul of Mo'ili'ili. MacPherson, of Church of the Crossroads, said so far there is no collective movement to represent the interests of residents and small businesses. And, he added, that's likely the only way big institutions will listen.
"We have to be proactive, not reactive," he said.
On the day Varsity Motors closed, owner Bob Taga had a few beers with friends and customers to mark the end of an era. The 63-year-old took the auto-repair shop over from his father, and is fairly sure he's ready to retire. Customers asked him to try to fight Kamehameha and stay open, but Taga refused.
Change happens, he said.
"The customers, they want to do a protest. It's been very heart-warming," Taga said, on the day after the shop shut down. "But these are things that you have to deal with."
Still, Taga said, it's hard for people to move on and say goodbye to bygone days. For Taga, leaving Mo'ili'ili meant leaving childhood memories of his father's shop and a lifetime of work. "There are things in life you'd like to keep," he said.
"That's part of the charm of Mo'ili'ili people are trying to protect."
COMMUNITY PRIDE ALIVE
Rebecca Ryan, executive director of the Mo'ili'ili Community Center, knows Mo'ili'ili holds a special place in people's hearts. For the past decade, the center has organized "Discover Mo'ili'ili," inviting the community to take pride in themselves.
The festival helped kickstart a resurgence of interest in the little community, resulting in the publication of "Mo'ili'ili — The Life of a Community" in 2005.
At the center on a recent afternoon, Ryan sits in her office with the book on her desk. She flicks through the pages as she talks about the little town, and says she hopes those who love Mo'ili'ili — residents and visitors alike — will be able to choose its destiny.
"There been talk about changes, but I think some change can be beneficial. Life is about change," she says. "We can do things that save our community. We need moderate housing, housing for seniors. We really have to think at what is best."
Kim, of the University of Hawai'i, was a part of the "college town" planning for Mo'ili'ili in 2002 and said the beauty of those discussions were their diversity of opinions. The failure, of course, was that the plans went nowhere.
"We had all these false starts," Kim said, which is leading people to think, 'Well, they're going to do what they're going to do anyway.' "
Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.
