COM 0927.046 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

July 19th, 2006 Chairman Stacy Higa, Vice Chair Virginia Isbell, Members of the Hawaii County Council, County of Hawaii 25 Aupuni St. Hilo HI 96720 Dear Chairman Higa and Members of the Council, I am Rick Vidgen representing the Hawaii Island Board of Realtors®, HIBR represents almost 1,000 licensed real estate agents island wide. Today we are speaking in opposition to Resolution 381-06. As a long term resident of Kona I am well aware of the reasons why Chairman Pilago may be proposing this moratorium since I also "endure" the current quite dreadful traffic conditions that plague this area. As well I, and other members of HIBR have participated significantly in the KCDP process and heard the many useful but often quite unrealistic ideas that have emerged from it. We have observed that a great many of the participants are relatively recent arrivals in Kona. We are very aware of the high cost of housing in Kona and can advise that the base cause of this is the lack of inventory of residential properties and the land on which to build them. We oppose this resolution on 2 bases: 1. There is no evidence to suggest that a development moratorium has ever had any positive impact except to escalate property prices even further and thus drive lower/middle income families even further from facilities and jobs. This effect has been well documented in areas like Santa Barbara and Santa Fe where "no growth" laws have done just this. We know that we are already in the midst of a housing crisis for the "working homeless" where paid workers simply have no place to live. As well we believe that the trickle down effect of a moratorium on our local economy could be disastrous particularly when it is added to the recently reported national economic slowdown. This impact would be felt by virtually every segment of our economy in West Hawaii and across the Island. .2.There is no defined "end" to the CDP process since it makes little sense to adopt a "Kona" plan until the remainder of the district plans are completed and integrated into the Hawaii Island General plan as they need to be. Thus this ordinance could paralyze the Kona region for years and just provide a further excuse for not bringing the Kona infrastructure up to its required level. We appreciate that the resolution calls for this toQ ~f Comm. No. "1 Z~'1 Ref. To: Eta &Rwl Ref. Date. Li 2446