Waldorf Plan Awaits Court, Zone Rulings
By Kerry Miller
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Del.icio.usIt’s a waiting game now to see what happens with Honolulu Waldorf School’s lawsuit against its neighbors.
The school filed a complaint Oct. 24 in Circuit Court against the chair of the city Zoning Board of Appeals and 20 Niu Valley residents who are opposed to an expansion that would add high school students to its campus.
“All we’re looking for is a decision,” said Connie Starzynski, who directs the private school at 350 Ulua St. “We want to know where we stand so we can move forward or not. I feel confident that we can move forward. We just have to hope. It’s just sad that we can’t do this more quickly.”
The decision is one the school needs from the zoning board on an appeal submitted in February from the residents. Since February, three of the five ZBA members have recused themselves due to conflict of interest.No decision can be made without a proper quorum.
Waldorf asked the ZBA in August to decide if its inability to rule on the appeal meant it was being denied. (ZBA rules say “failure to obtain a majority vote ... shall automatically defer the item until the next regular meeting. Failure to obtain a majority vote at two separate meetings shall constitute denial of the appeal.”)
“We filed because we needed the Circuit Court to do what the ZBA couldn’t do,” explained Starzynski.“Unfortunately, we had to mention the petitioners because their names were on the appeal. We’d like to meet (with them). We actually offered that before the complaint, but there was no response.”
Petitioner Martin Plotnick said that no such offer was ever made. “There was never an offer to sit down, never,” he said. “At any point, they could have said ‘let’s talk.’”
Expansion means more traffic, noise, people and parking issues - which are unwelcome. The petitioners also believe they’ve been left out the of decision-making process.
“We want to enjoy, take it a little easier,“he added.“We want a little peace and quiet.There are damn few communities like ours, and we want to preserve it.We’re nice people.We’re not a bunch of crazy ‘60s activists. We have a sense of place in Niu Valley.”
The school assured neighbors in 2005 they would get advance notice of any plans, Plotnick said, but “they went and filed for the CPU without letting us know.” Waldorf did add crosswalks and traffic signs at the neighbors’ request, however.
And a planned picketing of the Nov. 10 Waldorfaire concluded on a somewhat peaceful note with neighbors distributing fliers instead at the fair’s entrance.
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