Updates

🔴 UPDATE — January 2026

📌 Official Reconsideration Hearing Was Held on 1/12/26.

The City & County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) is making their decision and we should have an update by March 2026 the latest. 

📣 Stay Connected With Community Organizing

A local Facebook group — Kūpaʻa Kaʻala Alliance —  is leading the charge for residents to share updates, coordinate efforts, and stay informed about actions related to protecting Mount Kaʻala. You can follow the conversation or join the community here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1178850287587134

11/5/25:  The Honolulu City Council voted to revoke the permit for the North Shore gondola project. (HNN)

The decision reflects growing community push-back against the proposed gondola development. (HNN)

This is a major win for those of us advocating to protect Kaʻala’s environment and cultural significance — but it also means the fight isn’t over: there may be appeals, new permit efforts, or alternative proposals ahead.

Watch the full HNN story in the video below :

🚫 The Gondola Project Threatens Our Island

The proposed gondola project threatens Oʻahu’s natural beauty, cultural integrity, and community values. It would bring irreversible damage to one of our island’s most sacred and ecologically rich places—Mount Kaʻala. We believe there are better solutions that respect both the land and its people. 

🌺 COMMUNITY IMPACT — YOUR VOICES MADE A DIFFERENCE

🌟 DPP’s Reconsideration Notice specifically acknowledged community outreach.
Because so many of you spoke up, DPP confirmed that public testimony brought forward critical environmental, cultural, and safety issues that were not evaluated in the original permit approval. Your engagement directly helped move the project into a full reconsideration process.

📣 Your testimony revealed major concerns
📄 The developer now has 15 days to respond to all issues raised.
🗣️ A public hearing is coming, where the community will again be heard.
🔍 DPP will conduct a full de novo review, reassessing all evidence from scratch.
🗓️ A final ruling is expected within 30 days after the hearing closes.

💚 Community outreach worked — and it is shaping what happens next.

Please write to the following DPP contacts to express your concerns:

📧 Steve Tagawa — DPP Planner
stagawa@honolulu.gov

📧 General DPP Inbox
dpp@honolulu.gov

🏛️ Additional Relevant Contacts

📧 DPP Director – Dawn Takeuchi Apuna (via general DPP address)
dpp@honolulu.gov

📧 Honolulu City Council (District 2 – North Shore)
Councilmember Matt Weyer – contact via Council website or district office

🗣 Suggested Talking Points 

🌿 The project threatens a sacred, ecologically sensitive area and could cause irreversible environmental damage, including impacts to endangered birds, bats, plants, and watershed resources identified by DOFAW.

🚗 Developers estimate 700 tourists and 1,600 additional vehicles per day, overwhelming local infrastructure and increasing dangers on Kaukonahua Road.

🅿️ A parking lot for 300+ cars and a new entrance off Kaukonahua Road raise serious safety concerns—now heightened by U.S. Army disclosures of munitions fallout, aerial training zones, and potential UXO within the project area.

🌱 Construction would disrupt indigenous and endangered plant habitats and accelerate loss of fragile ecosystems.

🪦 The project risks impacts to cultural sites, burial areas, and traditional lands, as emphasized by OHA’s newly submitted concerns.

🚫 The developer has not met key agricultural requirements that justified their permit, calling the validity of the entire project into question.

📢 DPP noted the lack of meaningful community outreach during the original review—highlighting how essential public voices have been in bringing forward overlooked impacts.

⚠️ There has still been no Environmental Impact Statement, despite the scale and sensitivity of the proposal.

🤝 True transparency, accountability, and community involvement must be required before any project of this magnitude is considered.

🌏 Tourism development should reflect sustainability, cultural respect, and local control—not unchecked expansion that jeopardizes public safety and natural resources.