Musings: Up Against the Wall

Oh, that mean Mark Zuckerberg.

The Facebook founder is building a wall on his property in Kilauea, and some folks don't like it. So they do what all the North Shore cranks do: Call The Garden Island and whine unchallenged.

Which is why readers never learn it's replacing the ugly tree-topped dirt berm in front of the old Pflueger parcel — the one that Jimmy originally made 15-feet tall, then was forced to drop down to 5 feet, so he planted a scruffy bunch of trees on top.

What's more, it's fully permitted, and will gradually taper down from 6 feet at the section nearest Kuhio Highway until it connects into the 4-foot-high rock wall that has existed along Koolau Road for years.

But hey, as Shoshona Chantara reveals, the disgruntled are being totally reasonable:

“In the case of this wall, all he needs to do is take it down, so people have the view and the breeze back. It would end all discussion. That’s all we’re asking.”

Come on, Mark. Why can't you agree to complete capitulation?

I mean, it worked for the Chantaras before. Back when they were harassing Kilauea business owners into removing their smart meters.

And never mind that they're once again wildly exaggerating, with Shoshona claiming the structure is “up on a berm....a solid wall that’s 10 or more feet above the road level; the breeze can’t go through.”

Uh, really? Pictures don't lie. Unless that water truck has 10-foot tires.

The unhappy Gy Hall chimes in:

“Somebody has been putting up signs, appealing to Zuckerberg’s generosity and humanity — polite signs on the wall — but those signs just get ripped off as soon as they appear.”

Imagine. The nerve of Mark's crew, removing signs from a private wall. 

Donna McMillen, meanwhile, was “super unhappy” because she's not tall enough to see over the wall.

Yeah, Mark. Doncha know your wall can be no higher than the shortest person who may wish to walk on that road?

Maria Maitino was also disgruntled, saying the wall didn't “feel neighborly.”

Ya know, that's the same reaction some folks had to the Lilikoi lunch truck that Maria was operating illegally at Anini for a while.

But no worries. I'm sure this classic case of newbie "locals" bitching about "insensitive newcomers" will soon be resolved.

After all, Hall used to manage Aloha International, and the Chantaras own a business called Alchemy of Aloha. They should be able to transmute their anger into aloha in no time. 

Maybe one of the magic balls would help?

If not, well, then, karma's a bitch.

Namaste!