PUNALU'U — The Punalu'u Community Association this week celebrates 50 years of working toward the organization's slogan: "Keep the Country Country."

Formed in 1956 to ensure reasonable water costs for residents of the budding community, the organization's battles have included stopping the development of two major resorts in the area, pushing to rezone beachfront property from high-density to residential and forcing the restoration of a stream whose path was illegally straightened.

The association that lobbied to end "spot zoning" and coined the phrase Keep the Country Country fights for all O'ahu residents, said Creighton Mattoon, association president.

"In the Sustainable Communities Plan, Ko'olauloa, not just Punalu'u, is zoned rural, and it's for the whole island," he said. "It's for the people in the city to come down and relax on weekends, go fishing."

According to the 2000 Census, Punalu'u has 881 residents. Mattoon wasn't sure how many people lived there in 1956, but 50 people formed the association when Kahuku Sugar Plantation, which supplied water to Punalu'u, decided to close.

The city agreed to create a water source in Punalu'u but told residents they had to pay the entire cost, said Cathleen Mattoon, who grew up there and is Creighton Mattoon's wife.

It was a major cost the community couldn't afford, and no one could tell it what other options were available, she said. The association was able to strike a deal with the city to share costs on the project, she said. The water issue made the residents realize they needed to band together for this and future problems, she said.

"They at that time made this commitment, and we have tried to follow through," she said.

The organization hasn't always been successful. Two high-rise buildings in the area somehow eluded their scrutiny, Cathleen Mattoon said. They were the last to get by unchecked in what some called "spot zoning" that allowed non-conforming uses on land.

While several developers have gained permission to build on the shoreline, the group and other community organizations petitioned to rezone the land, stopping a seven-story apartment building and a cluster development in the 1970s, she said.

The group also stopped a resort development at Sacred Falls and in Punalu'u Valley by lobbying against development that would harm the environment, Cathleen Mattoon said.

The group also rallied when Koolau Ag tried to realign the Wai'ono Stream, cut water supply to the Punalu'u Ditch and make farmers and residents using that water pay for it. The association enlisted state and city agencies and the Environmental Protection Agency and forced the developer to restore the stream and the water to residents.

From that battle grew a partnership, the Punalu'u Watershed Alliance, which consists of the landowner, Kamehameha Schools, the Board of Water Supply, the Water Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey. The alliance works together to plan responsible water use and even has plans to create a water center for education and research, said Creighton Mattoon.

"I like working things out together rather than fighting all the time," he said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.