COM 0927.003 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Two issues arise before the County Council, the County Planning Commission, and the Mayor when a rezoning or any other development matter is up for consideration and decision. The first and most important issue, perhaps the only one that an elected or appointed official should consider, is the benefit and/or detriment to all of the people of the County of Hawaii that a rezoning or other development may generate. But County officials may consider the second issue with too much priority. That second issue is what benefits a rezoning or other development might bring to a developer. Since the County officials represent the public, which is all of the people of our Island, their paramount duty is to be fully and objectively informed about the benefits and detriments to the public each proposed rezoning and development may bring, and then make decisions for the public, regardless of whether or not the developer is or is not served. Some County officials might give lip service only to representing the public, and instead confuse serving the private developer's interests with serving the public. Why? They may talk about jobs or increasing the County's tax base or "affordable" housing, as reasons for approving a developer's project. But Big Island unemployment is now very low, the construction industry is busy and booked for many years to come, and family income has been rising and is predicted to continue to rise. The County's tax base is at a record highs and rapidly increasing for the foreseeable future as real property values increase. There are tens of thousands of existing rezonings and unbuilt units that were approved in prior years and which are yet to be developed and built out. These are providing jobs and increased County tax base for years to come. It is more than obvious that increased development has not reduced housing prices, and that population growth from many sources eliminates any chance of reduced housing prices by market action. Any argument that increased growth produces affordable housing in West Hawaii is laughable. So an official's justifications for approval of a developer's project on the basis of jobs, or increased tax base, or affordable housing are not reasons at this time and for the foreseeable future for the official to ignore the detriment to the public the development may cause the public. This detriment can be more traffic jams, spot zoning, damage to the environment that supports tourism, lack of infrastructure that the public and the County must eventually pay for with increased taxes, and destruction of the Hawaii way of life. Quality development, with immediate infrastructure contributions can benefit West Hawaii. The County lacks budget, staff and expertise to keep up with developers and their well-paid consultants, experts, and attorneys who pile on the paperwork and constantly promote the developer's project, lobbying the County Planning Department, the Planning Commission, the County Council and the Mayor. The County officials and staff all must be intelligent, experienced, thick skinned, and ever vigilant and diligent in honestly seeing the public benefit and detriment regardless of the profit the developer may be seeking by betterment of his property by governmental approvals. Not all County officials may have those characteristics, and as a result the public can suffer, particularly in West Hawaii. The increased value a developer immediately gets from County rezonings, approvals, and the like often greatly increases the worth of the developers property, enabling him to sell it for a huge profit with the new County entitlements without developing, or to develop for a huge profit. The County provides this wealth for a developer immediately open approval of the development. But, in the past, the County usually required nothing immediate from the developer in