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DEFRANCO: Okay, okay.
<br /> VITOUSEK: So we've got a motion and a second to approve. We can have a discussion now.
<br /> So,personally, I feel like this project is reasonable, but even then, will have an effect on the
<br /> community, and I feel like we've identified several mitigation measures that we can impose as
<br /> conditions that will lessen the impact of the project on the community. Because, clearly, the
<br /> community, the folks who are living here have a lot of concerns about that, and we have to take
<br /> that under heavy consideration while we are doing this. I feel like the issue with preservation
<br /> sites is a simple one; we need to remove any reference to data recovery because that's not part of
<br /> the approval of the mitigation commitment that has been agreed to as part of this project. I feel
<br /> like the applicants offered to do neighborhood mitigation, like the fence and speed bump and
<br /> convex mirror will help. I also believe that the limitation on `ohana dwellings will lessen the
<br /> impact on this subdivision and the surrounding agricultural properties where, you know,you've
<br /> got 10,000-square foot lots on Ka`iminam and then we'll have 22,000-square foot lots at this
<br /> subdivision and then making kind of a buffer into the one-acre lots in Kona Acres. So I feel like
<br /> in this case where the community has come on force and said we want to do whatever we can to
<br /> limit the effects of the project on neighborhood,having the reduction of the `ohana units in this is
<br /> appropriate, and it will lessen traffic, it will lessen neighborhood impacts, and maintain a buffer
<br /> between the neighboring properties and the Kona Acres. Commissioner DeFranco.
<br /> DEFRANCO: I agree with you, Commissioner Vitousek. I,am very concerned about, you
<br /> know, the archaeological sites there and the buffer zones, and hearing what the community had
<br /> to say and their reactions, because we are part of the community, and we now, that everything
<br /> that we do is going to impact us. But I also want to mention that it saddened me to hear what the
<br /> previous owner had done, had gone in there and tried to sort of smooth over some of the sites and
<br /> desecrated them, that was a shame. And I'm hoping, after meeting the Wards online, that their
<br /> commitment seems to be doing it in a way that's respectful to Hawaii and to what is there, and
<br /> in doing the development that is respectful to the nature of the ag lands, to our water systems,
<br /> and runoffs, and everything that going forward we all need to participate in that, in that idea, and
<br /> not just the idea that the implementation of it. But I also, I'm looking at the layout, and it, like
<br /> the infill,it looks like it fits in the area; you know, you have Matsuyama Store right across the
<br /> street, you know, we do need more housing here in Hawaii, and it looks like, you know, those
<br /> people, too, could plant some mango trees and have some ag development on their land. I didn't
<br /> see from the overheads anybody that was actually a farmer farming. Maybe they have extra food
<br /> that they take someplace every now and then, but it didn't look like there was orchards, you
<br /> know,big orchards or some kind of farming development going on in those neighborhoods. But
<br /> every, every fruit tree counts,and it takes care of our `ohana-s, it takes care of our communities.
<br /> And so hopefully, they will keep that in mind as they lay out this development that, you know,
<br /> they respect their neighbors and who lives there now. Thank you.
<br /> VITOUSEK: Commissioner Van Perris.
<br /> VAN PERNIS: As Chair Vitousek said this community, or this application,proposed
<br /> development affects the surrounding entire community, and Ms. DeFranco said basically the
<br /> same thing regarding the archaeology. My concern right now is the traffic that this will generate.
<br /> As I said, I'll be voting for it, with my nose held, but I think as far as this application, for more
<br /> intensive development and every application in the area, we have to address traffic. And with
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<br /> DRAFT
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