COM 0595.001 2020-2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

conditions. What is notable, however, is that Kumu Hou would mean the resorts ultimate buildout would be well below its current entitlement cap, even including the 142 or more affordable housing units. In addition to this density reduction, with its repurposing of nine fairways, its landscaping strategies to emphasize native and drought-tolerant species and the increase it brings in available recycled water, Kumu Hou will enable the resort to actually reduce its withdrawals from the [Anaeho`omalu] aquifer. In addition, right now Waikoloa Land Company is pursuing several common area landscape solutions throughout the resort that hold promise to offset a sizeable share of Kumu Hou's fresh water needs from the Waimea aquafer. With respect to visual impacts, thank you again Planning Department for the sharing the visual impact assessment, but I wanted to reiterate that we sought to honor South Kohala's raw beauty, its wide-open spaces and the long vistas that are there and that we want to preserve. The mandated 800-foot setbacks from Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway were maintained and we sought to enhance it further by setting development back even further from that line than was possible under the existing zoning and existing plans. We also emphasize conservation of the natural lava setting and a great deal more renaturalized lava in other areas. Overall, we're excited that we were able to achieve 69 percent of the project area as open to the sky with landscape solutions, with more sidewalks, trails,parks, and other open spaces open to the public. When I say public, I mean local residents as well as visitors and not just paying golfers. In our time together, I also learned that Mayor Billy Kenoi was passionate about public parks, and I want to say that the entire team here is excited to provide public parks here. Next, I'll note that Kumu Hou embraces all the archaeological and cultural protocols identified in the staff's proposed conditions. These include SMA 3, the project district conditions number 5 and 11. Those will result in a comprehensive trail system for the entire resort subject to SHPD's approval. With respect to civil infrastructure, despite the fact that infrastructure is already available to support Kumu Hou, the project district area, or"Area B", will be subject to Fair Share assessments as noticed in the Change of Zone Condition Y for that project district area. Additionally, because the project buildout is expected to extend almost 20 years, the staff wisely recommended, and we concur, that a traffic study be updated, and the applicant should comply with additional mitigations at a future point in time. And that's outlined in Condition N to Change of Zone. Finally, let me share a few thoughts that have been to address some of the issues that have been raised on timeshare generally and its benefits. First of all, timeshare units are far more like hotel units than they are short-term vacation units. They tend to be located in a resort area, as are these. They tend to be designed with amenities that are intended to keep visitors on site such as eateries, pools, gyms, and of course in this case adjacent golf This is unlike many short-term vacation units that effectively serve as a perch from which a visitor is encouraged to explore the surrounding community or the rest of the island. Finally, the higher occupancy of timeshare as compared to a short-term vacation unit means that a timeshare project can achieve any given level of economic development on a far smaller land footprint. Besides saving the `aina, this supports more efficient infrastructure and, in a resort setting it won't tax the public for ongoing repairs and remediations. Those will be handled by the private entity. In short, timeshare can serve to curtail what some see as resort sprawl on our island. Finally, under timeshare, a single professional manager would oversee payment of the required taxes and comply with regulatory 16 EXHIBIT D