COM 0292.008 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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mood morning Chairman Arakaki and members of the County Council, Thank you for the chance to comment on Bill 44, Draft 2. I live about half a mile from the subject property. I am here to ask you to defer this bill and to hold a public hearing on this rezoning request. Also, I urge you to adopt this bill only after amending it to mandate that the applicant donate an equipped, 5- acre park before the first home may be occupied. The applicant wants to build 114 houselots. This would be the biggest housing project in Hilo in many years. The property is located in the 2"d Council District, which currently has no representative. Please delay consideration of this bill until my district again has a voice on the council. The impacts are far too great to do otherwise. Most of my neighbors have told me they are unaware of this project. This is why a public hearing is essential. Please hold a hearing and insist that the applicant tell us exactly what his plans are. I also feel you should tour the property to better understand ets proximity to surrounding houses and Wilder Road, which currently provides the only access to both the project site and our neighborhood. Finally, I ask you to insert language requiring the applicant to build a 5-acre park, complete with restrooms, parking and playing fields, and donate it to the county before anyone is allowed to live on his new lots. No approval should be granted without this amendment. My community desperately needs a park so children are not forced to play in the street.. Page 19 of the Planning Department's background report says the county has a 1.5-acre park located close to the project site. No such facility exists. The land has sat idle due to the county's policy against developing parks less than 5 acres. This project would roughly double the size of my community. The 2"d District of upper Hilo has the least amount of county recreational land of any district. Do not add to this problem. Insist that a park be built as a condition of this $11-plus million development. In closing, I ask each of you to think about your own neighborhood. Ask yourself how your life and the lives of your family would be impacted if the size of your community was doubled without any additional recreational facilities. That is what I am Facing here today. Please, defer this bill, hold a public hearing and only grant approval after ensuring the applicant provides for the recreational needs of the expanding community. Wouldn't you want the same for your neighborhood? Nympha-Grace Armstrong Comm. No. Ref. Tom Ref. UaTe~~