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i <br /> I <br /> REPLOGLE: Yes. <br /> AU: Okay, so this question actually can go to all three testifiers. In the background report that <br /> i <br /> we received. I'm looking at a letter from the Association. By any chance, are any of you 3 <br /> testifiers are you part of the Association? <br /> HAWK: I am. Aubrey Hawk, I'm Secretary of the Volcano Community Association (VCA). <br /> AU: Okay, well that's all I wanted to know and I'm assuming that the applicant is going to <br /> address the meetings and some of the things that say it. But if you want Ms. Hawk, if you can <br /> just kind of briefly, really short you don't have to go on about it-just give us the gist of how the <br /> Association meetings went from your standpoint. <br /> HAWK: We had one meeting which the Association had hosted and Mr. Arai and Mr. Fuke who <br /> are consultants for the developer were there in person. The developer was there via Zoom, albeit <br /> with a bad connection. Several other community members were there via Zoom and about ten <br /> (10) of us VCA board members and neighbors and community members were there in person. It <br /> was a bit of a chaotic meeting. It was designed just to sort of be a dialogue building, let's just <br /> talk story and share what it is we want to do. But the bottom line is we are opposed to rezoning <br /> from residential to commercial for the purpose of bringing in any type of vacation, lodging, <br /> hotel, motel facility. <br /> We as a community believe that the County law that was just recently passed. It actually caused <br /> a lot of longtime residents whose livelihood was to operate small B &B's and little STVR's on <br /> their property to have to relinquish that income. Even though there was no complaint from the <br /> community, because of permitting or just the various things that allowed them that would have <br /> allowed them to maintain and be grandfathered in. Now we see an outside nonresident developer <br /> with absolutely no connection to Hawaii,let alone to Volcano Village looking to kind of get <br /> around that law because they've been able to pay the right people and bring in another STVR. <br /> Which we've all agreed,we simply do not need in Volcano Village. There are hundreds of <br /> opportunities and places for people to stay. <br /> So that was kind of what the VCA, that's where our position stems from. Then secondarily, we <br /> are very concerned with larger clear cutting type developments on this particular lot, which is <br /> relatively very thickly forested on that whole Old Volcano Road that could potentially be <br /> converted to commercial that's probably actually the most forested lot. So those are some really <br /> old `6hi`a trees and hapu`u ferns that are in there. Once those are gone, they are gone, and we <br /> have determined, the Puna Community has determined that it's very important to maintain that <br /> canopy so that our native birds can do their overflights upcountry. So that was the secondary <br /> point of the VCA on this project. There's just no way around those 2 points. No matter how <br /> they keep trying to tweak it or call it a hosted or say oh we are going to preserve the trees. We <br /> know that the plans that they have don't have to be adhered to once this commercial zoning <br /> would be approved. Does that answer it for you? <br /> 6 <br /> EXHIBIT A (DRAFT) <br />