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Murashige, Laura <br /> From: John Schinnerer [john@eco-living.net] <br /> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 10:26 PM <br /> To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us r_•. ~ : <br /> Cc: Yoshimoto, J; Naeole, Emily; Yagong, Dominic; Ikeda, Donald; Higa, Stacy; Jacobson, Bob; <br /> Hoffmann, Pete; Ford, Brenda; Pilago, K. Angel; p inala?~a~~w~i~i.~; ~-Roy <br /> Takemoto; cohmayor@co.hawaii.hi.us JIl'T'f <br /> Subject: Testimony on Bill 221 _ , , <br /> C. <br /> ~~OU:~-7 i - _ { , :Jr,il <br /> <br /> Aloha, <br /> I am writing to state my opinion that Bill 221, and any and all such rezoning <br /> applications, should be tabled, deferred or otherwise put on hold until the community- <br /> based Puna Community Development planning process (CDP) is completed. <br /> More importantly, this sort of a rezoning request, and the cases being made concerning it, <br /> show how the County and more importantly the communities it serves need new tools to deal <br /> with situations such as this. <br /> One issue with this request is that once rezoned, there is no requirement that the <br /> originally proposed commercial project be actually carried out. The applicant could build <br /> anything that is allowed within the new zoning designation, or simply flip the property, <br /> at suddenly higher commercial zone value, to someone else who could likewise do anything <br /> allowed under the new zoning. <br /> Current zoning and planning laws and tools cannot support careful and thoughtful <br /> development in Puna (or anywhere else). The crudeness of the broad designations and rules <br /> for "commercial," "agricultural," "rural," <br /> "urban" and so on are inadequate and inappropriate for the needs of community-based <br /> development - somewhat like trying to use a baseball bat to do brain surgery. <br /> Much more fine-grained, flexible, community-based zoning, regulatory and approval tools <br /> are needed to correct this situation. The people who actually inhabit the communities need <br /> more control over what can happen in their home places - especially when absentee <br /> landowners with no direct accountability to the communities are involved. <br /> If developers will truly be serving the communities' needs, they will have no problem <br /> gaining support for their specific projects in a more appropriate legal and regulatory <br /> framework. <br /> Where they are not serving the communities' needs, they will no longer be able to impose <br /> their projects on communities that do not want them. <br /> What Puna communities want is being discovered through the CDP process. <br /> Please respect the energy, resources and time being given to this process by citizen <br /> <br /> volunteers and County staff alike and defer this and all other such requests until <br /> completion of the Puna CDP. <br /> Furthermore, please take initiative to address the shortcomings of existing zoning and <br /> other land use regulatory tools and propose appropriate changes. <br /> mahalo, <br /> John Schinnerer <br /> HC2 Box 6482 <br /> Kea'au, HI 96749 <br /> 962-6529 <br /> John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design Comm. No. V `L~•!A <br /> Vrs~eaNd <br /> Ref. To: <br /> - Eco-Living - <br /> <br /> Whole Systems Design Services Ref. Uate <br /> i <br /> <br />