COM 0964.012 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Being a private subdivision, Orchidland is responsible for its own roads - paving, maintenance and associated liability. We get no help from the county or state. Commercial development is planned not only along the two main roads but along the unpaved side roads as well. Development will obviously induce more traffic onto these unimproved, 12 foot wide, single lane, gravel side roads. Yes, you can make promises that the Planning Department will put conditions on any new permits that the developer pick up the tab for the road improvements, but that has not been our experience to date. For example, recently a congregation made application to build a large church on an Orchidland side road. The Planning Department's condition was that the church could improve the first 18% of the side road from one main road, the remaining 82% or 2/3's of a mile of the side road from the other main road was left up to Orchidland. When someone would want to go from a shop in the Ainaloa area to another on the Orchidland area, they aren't going to wait in a traffic backup and take that death defying risk of merging into a stream of cars on the highway. They are going to go up the single lane, graveled 341i or 35m inside Orchidland. And, you know what will happen when there is a fatal accident. I'm willing to bet that the courts will say that the County is liable because they forced this situation on a private subdivision without the financial means nor the motivation to improve those roads. These kinds of issues need to be worked out! r. a 35th near Ainaloa Blvd. 35th near Orchidland Drive Action The above objections show that these amendments are ill-conceived and not well thought out. They are good reasons for not rushing into this. Orehidland, the Planning Department and the Puna Community Development Committee need some time to try to come up with a comprehensive solution to our region's growth problems. There are alternatives to locating commercial zones - Hawaiian Paradise Park has blocks set aside for this, Shipman has land and big plans. Opposition amongst the 2,200 Orchidland lot owners is very strong as demonstrated by the resolution passed at the April, 2006 General Membership meeting, in which a vote to curtail commercial development within Orchidland was almost unanimous. We feel that we would be completely within our rights to gate certain roads and allow access only to residents and guests. While we don't want to have to resort to such tactics, feelings in the community on this issue run so high that it could conceivably happen.