PlanPacific’s previous and current work covers a wide range of needs, falling into the following categories:

• Regional and Policy Planning
  PlanPacific has played a central role in the preparation of many of Hawai'i’s most significant and visible regional plans, including the State of Hawai'i Conservation District Review, the Kaua‘i General Plan, the Maui General Plan, and the development plans and sustainable communities plans for five of the eight planning regions on the Island of O'ahu. In some instances, our regional studies have been for non-profit clients, notably The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i. In addition, PlanPacific has undertaken infrastructure development and financing studies for the City and County of Honolulu and the County of Kaua‘i.


• Neighborhood and Community Planning
  PlanPacific has developed extensive experience, especially in recent years, in the preparation of community and neighborhood plans. Typically, the plan is sponsored and funded by a government agency, but the process involves intensive community participation. Usually, the focus is on strategies to address one or more community issues, such as the preservation or creation of affordable housing, revitalization of neighborhood business districts, preservation and enhancement of historic or aesthetic features, incentives to reinvest in deteriorating properties, safer and more convenient conditions for pedestrian and bicycle travel, and improvements or additions to public open space and recreational opportunities.


• Project Planning
  PlanPacific undertakes conceptual land use and site planning for both small and large properties. Examples of large sites on Oahu include a 44-acre continuing care retirement community in Kapolei, a 535-acre mixed-use development focused on a recreational marina in Ewa, a 65-acre commercial-industrial tract in Iwilei, the 72-acre Armed Forces Recreation Center at Waikiki Beach, and a 143–acre former pineapple field near Wahiawa. Among our well-known clients are Castle and Cooke Properties, McCormack Properties, Haseko (Ewa), JMB/Amfac Properties, The Queen Emma Foundation and The Estate of James Campbell.


• Land Use Entitlements
  PlanPacific provides professional advice and services in obtaining land use entitlements and the full range of development permits, from discretionary, policy-level land use approvals and environmental assessments through construction stages. To undertake complex projects, PlanPacific assembles multi-disciplinary teams including financial, architectural, engineering and other expert consultants. We have developed particular expertise on complex permitting matters involving properties along the shoreline and in Waikiki
  


• Due Diligence Research
  PlanPacific performs research into regulatory controls and special development permit conditions and analyzes the legal status of “as-built” improvements on properties in anticipation of the sale of those properties. In most cases, attorneys who represent either a seller or prospective buyer engage us to conduct this research and, occasionally, recommend remedies for nonconforming or illegal conditions. Our clients include several of Hawaii’s leading real estate law firms.


• Expert Witness Testimony
  Both Mr. Whalen and Mr. Foster have been retained as expert witnesses on land use, zoning and environmental matters in well over a dozen court, arbitration, appeal and contested case proceedings at federal, state and local government levels in cases involving issues ranging from scenic view, wildlife and natural resource preservation to development rights and procedural matters.


• Advocacy for Regulatory Change
  PlanPacific has been retained by business associations and landowners to study land use policies and development code issues and propose and advocate in public forums for appropriate regulatory changes. For example, studies completed by PlanPacific on behalf of major landowners led to a revised urban design plan for the Waikele planned community in central Oahu and amendments to the zoning controls for the Iwilei mixed-use district. To stimulate reinvestment, Waikïkï Improvement Association hired PlanPacific to recommend and advocate for amendments to the Waikiki Special District, which were adopted by the City in November 2003.