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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Honorable K. Angel Pilago, Chair <br /> and Members of the Committee on Planning <br /> County of Hawaii <br /> Committee on Planning <br /> Page 3 <br /> July 17, 2006 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> DHHL, which is believed to be consistent with the law regarding the County's land use <br /> authority (or lack thereof) over DHHL property. The MOA essentially allows the DHHL <br /> to choose the zoning of its property, without regard to the County General Plan. <br /> <br /> 4. Analysis. <br /> <br /> It is the Council's prerogative whether or not to initiate this General Plan amendment. <br /> I did want to briefly explain why I did not initiate a similar General Plan amendment to <br /> allow a resort at Honokohau, although this was requested by representatives of Jacoby <br /> Development, DLNR, and DHHL. <br /> <br /> The proposal would create about 2500 new visitor units. This is a massive project. <br /> Currently, there are about 4500 visitor units in North Kona, so this would be a major <br /> addition to the current inventory. <br /> <br /> This project, while a major development in itself, will generate a huge amount of <br /> additional development. The hotel and timeshare units, given typical staffing levels, will <br /> require from one half to one employee per unit. <br /> <br /> These employees cannot come from an existing pool of unemployed people seeking <br /> resort jobs in Kona, because there isn't one. West Hawaii resorts currently have more <br /> than 1000 vacant jobs that they have been unable to fill. <br /> The new workers for the Honokohau project will either have to commute into Kona from <br /> long distances, or we will need a huge increase in housing in Kona that these workers can <br /> afford. Clearly, long-distance commuting is not a viable strategy. The roads are already <br /> overcrowded, and commuters use the roads at the most congested times. Gas prices are <br /> high. Even if workers take the bus, spending hours each way to get to work is not a <br /> desirable lifestyle. These are the most important reasons that there are few employees to <br /> take existing jobs in West Hawaii resorts. <br /> <br /> The developer does propose to build some housing for its workforce on nearby State <br /> land. While this would be essential for the project, and a good thing, it does mean that <br />