The Hawaiʻi Ledger Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026

Oʻahu · Neighborhood Board No. 31

Kailua

The board
Neighborhood Board No. 31 at the Neighborhood Commission Office: members, agendas and minutes for every year on file.
Meets
First Thursday of the month, 7:00 p.m., Kailua District Park Multipurpose Room (from a stored copy of NCO's page for the board, which the Ledger's page reader returned Sept. 19, 2026; the copy carries no date, so confirm the schedule against the month's agenda; NCO's calendar carries each month's agenda and any recess or cancellation notice)
Agendas by email
The city sends this board's agendas and minutes by email. On NCO's form, tick “Neighborhood Board #31 Kailua Agenda & Minutes”.
City Council district
3, Esther Kiaʻāina (the city's district layer, read Sept. 19, 2026; all nine districts)
High school districts
Kailua, Kalāheo
ZIP codes it overlaps
96734, 96744
The board's 4 subdistricts

1. Kalahe Beach Lots/Lanikai/Kailua; 2. Enchanted Lake/Keolu area; 3. Maunawili; 4. Coconut Grove/Aikahi/Kailua Town area

Names come from the city's GIS layer, which prints them without ʻokina or kahakō.

What's happening here

The City Council's zoning committee took up Resolution 26-188 on Aug. 27, proposing to rezone land in Kailua. [source]

DPP's map lists two Special Management Area permit files for homes at Kaʻapuni, and the Environmental Notice has carried several shoreline certifications along the Kailua coast since June. [source]

The Ledger's brief, written Sept. 19, 2026 from the records linked. Briefs are written by the Ledger in a session from the records linked in each sentence, and dated. They say what is on the record, in plain words; they do not predict outcomes or take sides. The full list for each area follows below the brief.

Oʻahu planning file, on DPP's map
Oʻahu planning file, on DPP's map
Honolulu City Council, Zoning and Planning
Environmental Notice: Shoreline certification: proposed or rejected
Environmental Notice: Shoreline certification: application
Environmental Notice: Environmental review
Environmental Notice: Shoreline certification: application

See what is on the record near a particular address · New on the record across Hawaiʻi

Every record the Ledger reads that places an item in this board area by its tax map key or map point, newest and upcoming first, from all sources at once: county agendas and notices, state boards and the Environmental Notice. The sections below break it down by source.

Aikahi Elementary Elementary · grades K-6
281 Ilihau Street, Kailua · 808.254.7944 · school website · Kalaheo complex

Enchanted Lake Elementary Elementary · grades K-6
770 Keolu Drive, Kailua · 808.266.7800 · school website · Kailua complex

Kaelepulu Elementary Elementary · grades K-6
530 Keolu Drive, Kailua · 808.266.7811 · school website · Kailua complex

Kailua Elementary Elementary · grades K-6
315 Kuulei Road, Kailua · 808.266.7878 · school website · Kalaheo complex

Kailua High High · grades 9-12
451 Ulumanu Drive, Kailua · 808.266.7900 · school website · Kailua complex

Kailua Intermediate Middle · grades 7-8
145 South Kainalu Drive, Kailua · 808.263.1500 · school website · Kalaheo complex

Kainalu Elementary Elementary · grades K-6
165 Kaiholu Street, Kailua · 808.266.7835 · school website · Kalaheo complex

Kalaheo High High · grades 9-12
730 Iliaina Street, Kailua · 808.254.7900 · school website · Kalaheo complex

Kaohao Elementary PCS Elementary · charter · grades K-6
140 Alala Road, Kailua · 808.266.7844 · school website · Kalaheo complex

Keolu Elementary Elementary · grades K-6
1416 Keolu Drive, Kailua · 808.266.7818 · school website · Kailua complex

Maunawili Elementary Elementary · grades K-6
1465 Ulupii Street, Kailua · 808.266.7822 · school website · Kailua complex

Olomana School Intermediate · grades 7-12
42-522 Kalanianaole Highway, Kailua · 808.266.7866 · school website · Kailua complex

Public schools whose grounds fall in this board area, from the State of Hawaiʻi GIS public schools layer, read Sept. 20, 2026: the department's own names, grades, complexes and contact details. Charter schools are marked. Private schools are not listed. Which school serves a particular address is a separate question, answered by the department's attendance areas: look up an address.

Weather and ocean alerts

NWS Honolulu

Checking the National Weather Service for alerts in effect…

Ocean water advisories on Oʻahu

Checking the Department of Health…

Read live when this page opens: the National Weather Service's alerts for the forecast zones covering Kailua (HIZ009, HIZ036), and the state Department of Health Clean Water Branch's open advisories (brown water, sewage spills, high bacteria) for the island, which the department names by beach or coastline rather than by area. Nothing here is stored or rewritten; each agency's own wording and dates are shown.

State highway lane closures

HDOT roadwork

Checking the Department of Transportation's closure schedule…

Read live from the state Department of Transportation's lane closure map layer when this page opens: approved closures on state highways in and near Kailua (within the area's bounding box, so a closure just outside may appear), from now through the next seven days, in the department's words. County streets are not included. Schedules can change without notice and all work is weather permitting, the department says.

Police reports

By block

197 incidents reported to the Honolulu Police Department in the 90 days to Sept. 19, 2026 (169 in the 90 days before). Most common: theft/larceny (52), assault (36), vandalism (33). Reports by block and by type.

Reports to police as HPD's open data records them, not findings or arrests; no one is named.

What neighbors reported to the city

ZIP 96734: 94 reports. Most common: Beach/Park (16), Pothole (9), Other (8), Trees – Park & Street (8), Streetlight (7).

ZIP 96744: 119 reports. Most common: Pothole (20), Other (16), Streetlight (16), Stream/Canal Cleaning (7), Beach/Park (6).

Honolulu 311 reports from the city's open data, Aug. 21, 2026 to Sept. 19, 2026, counted by ZIP code; ZIP codes do not follow board boundaries, so each line describes the ZIP. Counts only: no address, no description, no report number. Request types are the city's own. Categories the city labels “Homeless” count calls made to the city, not people: they say how often neighbors reported something, not how many people are unhoused, and the state's point-in-time count is the source for that. Reports about crime are not counted here.

On the board's agenda

The board at NCO

No agenda for this board is on file yet. The Neighborhood Commission Office sends each board's agendas by email; the Ledger will carry them here, in the office's words, as they arrive.

Land-use files open in this area

All of Oʻahu
2025/SMA-18Major SMA Permits

2025/SMA-18

Public Hearing Date: May 9, 2025

DPP public-input map · the full notice

2026-SMA-34Major SMA Permits

2026-SMA-34 Baum Residence at Ka‘apuni Bungalow

Notice of Application and Public Hearing:

DPP public-input map · the full notice

From the Department of Planning and Permitting's public-input page, read Sept. 20, 2026. A file is placed in this area when DPP's map point falls inside the board's official boundary. The map shows applications open for comment, not every permit. The Ledger has not reviewed the application materials.

Before the City Council

Council agendas
Committee on Zoning and Planning · RESOLUTION 26-188
Proposing an amendment to Zoning Map No. 23 (Kailua-Lanikai-Keolu), Ordinance 86-124, to rezone land situated at Kailua, O‘ahu.

From City Council committee agendas the Ledger has read into items (2 so far), in the council's words. An item appears here only when it prints a tax map key that falls in this board area, or names a department file mapped here.

In the Environmental Notice

Every item
Shoreline certification: proposed or rejected · OA-2184
Shoreline certification: application · OA-2189
Shoreline certification: application · OA-2186

From the State of Hawaiʻi's Environmental Notice (7 issues read), in its words. An item appears here only when it prints a tax map key that falls in this board area.

Before state boards

All state boards

No state board item read so far prints a tax map key in this board area.

From state board agendas the Ledger has read (4 so far), in the agencies' words. An item appears here only when it prints a tax map key that falls in this board area.

Building permits here

Every board area

The city issued 6,744 permits in this area from Jan. 1, 2020 through July 1, 2025, worth $964,129,363 of work as filed; the median permit was $19,000. Of those, 169 were for a new building, 2,935 carried the solar flag and 180 the accessory dwelling unit flag. Across the whole file: 28,641 permits, $2,039,329,909.

By year
YearPermits
199913
200071
200180
2002129
2003326
2004642
20051,016
20061,002
20071,006
20081,237
20091,137
20101,161
20111,463
20122,571
20131,987
20141,488
20151,687
20161,285
20171,223
20181,120
20191,253
20201,378
20211,271
20221,166
20231,196
20241,127
2025606
What the applicants called the use
  • Single Family Dwelling: 4,332
  • SFD: 756
  • SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING: 324
  • ADU: 109
  • RESIDENTIAL: 85
  • Dwelling: 84

The city's file records the use as each applicant typed it, so the same use appears under several spellings.

Counted from the city's static permit file (2005 to June 30, 2025), placed by the tax map key each permit carries; 2026 permits are in HNL Build and not in any open file. Counts and totals only: the Ledger does not publish a permit's address, applicant or contractor. How the count is made.

Who lives here, by ZIP code

ZIP codePeopleHouseholdsMedian household incomeOwner-occupied homesMedian age
9673450,670 ±1,93816,842 ±593$132,782 ±$8,09310,574 of 16,84238.4
All of Oʻahu1,001,146338,868$106,195202,604 of 338,86839.8

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates by ZIP Code Tabulation Area, read through the Census Reporter API. These are survey estimates; ± is the 90% margin of error. ZIP code areas do not follow board boundaries, so each row describes the ZIP, not the board area. A ZIP is shown when at least a tenth of it lies inside this area.

The island-wide record

Oʻahu has one city government, so most decisions that reach Kailua are made for the whole island. Those records have one home each: City Council and committee agendas and every open land-use file.

Kailua, once a week

A free weekly digest for this board area: the board's agenda, new land-use files, and what the council takes up.

No digests are being sent yet. You will get one note when yours starts. The list is never sold or shared.