COM 0019.000 2000-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Jeannette L. Cole HCR 1 Boy 5? 16 Keaau, HI 9Ei749 (808) 98?-8?Eic~ December 6, 1998 President, Paradise Park Hui Hanalike Ha«~aiian Paradise Park Keaau, HI 96749 Dear President: Everyday I Look out m}' kitchen ~;~indon•, as I prepare m}• home for ~~•ork, school, animal tending, etc. and I am grateful to be allowed to gaze upon the 31-acre unimproved expanse of ethnobo- tanicaJ beaut}• and archaeological significance adjacent to one of m}' preperties, on which I live, in Ha- waiian Paradise Park. Having lived on this island for more than half m}~ life, m}' children fourth genera- tion here, I feel ~•e are so luck}• to be able to vie~~• the Hawaiian Hawk diving for its pre}' and taking it to its nest nearby, to view the two owl species which also nest here, and to be able to hear the endangered bat quietly clicking its «~ay thru the forest on a quiet, clear night. HPP is a subdivision slated to have more than "30,00 residents in the nett }'ears," according to the current Master Pian. Haring such a lowland area of native rainforest sheltering possible prehistoric ruins desen•ing of further research and im•entor}' (Rosendahl, 1985), as «ell as the obsen•ed nesting areas of native species of our sh}•, feathered ohana members is trul}' a rarity. Their presence was also upheld in the Master Plan. How to combine all these factors, in compl}•ing «ith the Master Plan, seems to be what should be occurring in the Park committee which is currently meeting at Malamalama school. Instead it seems the Park Committee of the Paradise Park Hui Hanalike, headed b}• John Luchau, has decided on their own, that the Master Plan should be ignored in all these aspects and then some. Everyday there is a burden of concern by a growing number of property owners that this 31- acre site, designated in the original Master Plan as being an "ethnobotanical garden and archaeological site {not park, rivo very different words, according to a dictionary of the English language), is now being reslated/redesigned b}' a committee whose chairperson's number one dream for the place is pave a ?-mile long 5-toot wide asphalt path in an oval configuration across each of the currentl}• individually subdi- vided lots of this parcel not more than 100 feet or so from the back door of each property o«•ner adjacent to that area. In addition, he fully expects to receive a federal grant in order to do so. This aspiration of Luchau's seems to conflict "•ith those portions of the Master Plan quoted, in addition to conflicting with the original Master Plan to have pedestrian walkways and bike paths dedi- cated on the perimeter and on railroad avenues only (which makes sense as far as road maintenance costs would be concerned). Currently, if they can be considered walkways, the}' are definitely substandard appearing and in using as well. Bike paths and pedestrian walkwa}'s should be considered first where there is a histor}' of people getting killed on the roads in childplay or commuting. Certainly, the 31-acre site would make a beautiful park for people, but what «•ould it do to the current inhabitants of the rainforest there under the huge ban}'an trees; the actual flora, fauna and lowland animalia abundant within its pro- tective cover as well as the ruins contained therein and straggling across private property as well? Ac- cording to the Federal Fish and Wildlife Sen•ice Special Agent in Honolulu, inviting in the public into such an area would be tantamount to getting rid of Oahu and telling everyone there to swim for the nest shore the}' can find.