COM 0560.019 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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To The Council Members, Hawaii County Planning Council, Oct 5, 2004 From Amy Mahealani Jones 171 Liko Lehua Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Testimony regarding the proposed zoning change of the property referred to as University Terrace Chairman Elarionoff and Council Members: I am not able to present my testimony in person as I am on the mainland for business. I live adjacent to the proposed development. I am employed as a counselor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Thazik you for allowing my testimony to be read. I have come before you already to implore you to deny the rezoning of the property known as University Terrace. I am most concerned with flooding problems already evident in this azea. My points aze the following: 1) I wish to submit as part of my testimony the article, "Water over the Terrace" from the September 16-3Q 2004 issue of the Hawaii Island Journal, as I wish the statements contained within it to be a part of the council record. I did not write the article, but I was one of the people interviewed by the journalist for the article, and I accompanied him to view the bridges mauka and makai of the property. Something very profound struck me as I viewed these two bridges. I already knew that a massive amount of water flows through the property, because at times of heavy rain I can hear the river roaz from my house. The article points out cleazly that the mauka bridge, on the Mohouli extension, is able to accommodate 246 cubic feet of water per second more than the makai bridge on Komohana. My retired engineer friend tells me that it is common practice to have a greater capacity at the outflow than at the inflow. It seems logical to me that the engineers of these bridges knew that some water sinks underground here, which is why the lower bridge is built to handle a lesser flow. We have testified before that water--and its management--is a huge issue in this azea of Hilo. It seems intuitive to me that if this much water is expected to be absorbed by the soil in this 172 acres, and any part of the property is paved, the total amount absorbed will be decreased, and the bridge on the makai side will therefore not be able to handle the runoff in the channel there. If the property is paved, even just a part of it, the Komohana bridge should be expected to fail again, resulting in homes and businesses downstream again being damaged. On the north face of the existing streambed, there is an area where palapalai ferns grow abundantly, even as they face the sunny south. Palapalai ferns usually grow in foggy, Q Comm. No. Ref. To: pry Ref. Uate