COM 0766.058 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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BILL 251: Public Hearing (OPPOSE BILL 251) Adele DeCuyper 75-272 Malulani Drive Kailua Kona Hi.96740 Nov 9a' 2006 Chairperson Higa and County Council Members, Dear Chairperson Higa, I wish to thank you and the Council members for voting for a public hearing on the rezoning of land for Kona Coffee Estates. I have to remind you that giving us one week to prepare appeared to be an impossible task. I thought the plan we were pursuing was to meet with all the different players and see if we could develop an action plan. It was especially surprising when we tried to elicit cooperation from the Department of Public Works and the Planning Department no such help was forthcoming, in fact there was an air of hostility when we asked questions or telephone calls were not returned. We did get a return call from Stanford Carr who was unable to meet with us until just before the Thursday meeting. We certainly got the feeling that we were being pushed aside as a nuisance in favor of the developer. We heard from many people that we were wasting our time as it was a done deal even though no approval process that we know about has occurred. Contrary to the statements made by Stanford Carr and Richard Wheelock that only a few people living in Malulani Gardens are in opposition I have in my hand a survey done this week with signatures of 75 homeowners stating they are against what the Kona Coffee Estates is proposing at this time. Had I had more time to contact homeowners living on the mainland, Japan and those on vacation there would be many more. ISSUE: 1. Malulani Drive: The connector road developed when Lowe's was built between Henry Street and Queen Kaahumanu Highway (QKH) was and is a mistake and hazardous to Malulani Gardens traffic. In Dec. 2003 Mayor Kim had the road barricaded by the Department of Public Works and was not to be opened until such times that it could meet all safety standards. It has remained closed. The safety factors still exist and are probably worse today due to the increase in traffic. The former owner of the property now owned by Stanford Carr petitioned the State Department of Transportation to install traffic lights at QKH and the intersection to Malulani Drive. The installation was started a few months ago and as far as I know has stalled as the State now has a plan to widen the road from Henry Street south of Malulani Drive. However, that does not really solve the problem as the bypass from Henry Street still exists and Malulani Drive (Roadway Lot 44) appears not to be wide enough to handle four lanes of traffic. See attached letter from our Association attorney. When Malulani Gardens was developed a stub out road was made to favor the Kanuha property. Stanford Carr actually only has access to his property across Kanuha's. No. 7Comm. 'S 1 Ref. To. ~sseM~ Ref. Date