Martin Kasindorf at USA Today has written a story Land-use debate ugly in paradise about the competing sides about a proposed development on Molokai:
“There is trouble in paradise,” says Annie VanEps, 59, an art gallery manager who moved from California five yearsago. “This has split our island. Can’t we have one island that’s notdeveloped?”
Opponents of the proposal say Molokai needs toguard its stoplight-free rural lifestyle and scarce water more than itneeds 200 millionaires and 100 more jobs. Wariness toward moneyednewcomers who don’t adopt Molokai’s laid-back pace can have racialovertones, too.
On the other side of the coin:
John Sabas, vice president of Molokai Ranch, says the cattle operationis losing money and needs to sell land. To win community support, theranch is offering to give control of 51,000 of its 65,000 acres to aland trust for conservation, and to reopen a resort that closed in 2000with the loss of 100 jobs.
Is this debate unique to Molokai, or Hawaii? No, but it’s rare that the dynamics of Hawaii’s land use scene get displayed on the national stage.