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January 28, Lg97
<br /> SUBJECl': BiLLs ~ , 372, & 373 (Oceanside L250's ilLages at Hokukano)
<br /> To: Chairman and I'Iembers, Hawaii County Council Planning Committee
<br /> From: Kona Conservation Group
<br /> I+'e urge yyou to defer action on ail matters concerning Oceanside L250's
<br /> villages at llokukano project until the six new members of this Council
<br /> have had time to review the entire project and its potential impacts,
<br /> Some of the concerns that should be reviewed are:
<br /> 1, Leek nf~yQ~_~~, There is no regional plan for this
<br /> area despite strong interest shown by residents to develop one,
<br /> we urge you NOT to continue the unplanned, piecemean spot-
<br /> zoning of Kona as we have seen in approvals of OpihihaLe golf course,
<br /> KDC and the Riviera resortpmjects, Let's first develop a regional
<br /> pta$ with the community s vision and consideration d the cumulative im-
<br /> pacts before acting on the major rezoning bills no~v before yyou,
<br /> Lacking a regional plan, hundreds o£ residents HAVE expressed
<br /> their opposition to this project by singing petitions that were presented
<br /> to this bod;r a year or tvro ago. These residents want to keep this area's
<br /> stable, cohesive community with a highly-valued rural atmosphere and do
<br /> not want this intrusion in this area. urther, this project is the open-
<br /> ing,wedge to similar urban proJ'ects further south, changin „the character
<br /> of South Kona forever, As stated by the UH Environmental ~ nter, "the
<br /> J cumulative effect of the Life st Les promoted and employment generated
<br /> are not rural in character....°(~omment to $aft EIS on this project)
<br /> The County General Pian identifies the areas where pprimary
<br /> resort centers are to be Located as Hi Lo, North Kona and South nohala
<br /> but not Central or South Kona. Let`s follow the General Plan.
<br /> ;0 2, Pollution of Class AA waters and KeaLakekua Bay. The State
<br /> m ~ ~ Office of Planning expressed concern abort nonpoint pollution, and even
<br /> the developer co ceded that "enforcement (~n the use of chemicals) may
<br />
<br /> ~ ~ not be practicai~ in residential Lots, and}that °there is a potential
<br /> i_ threat that those chemicals applied as part o£ the landscape and golf
<br /> course maintenance, if persistently and/or improperly appLi.ed, could
<br /> potentially migrate to the area of the coastal waters," lF'inaL EIS~p,7)
<br /> KeaLakekua Bay is only L,3 miles away.
<br /> T Fntu re wa'kar cn nnly, w
<br /> K 8~ 3, here wiLL this project get the water
<br /> it needs for its entire project? wiLL it negatively impact residents?
<br /> q, 9utturai attes, Preservation o£ cultural sites must be
<br /> meaningful, not merely physically. The integrity of the many sites wiLL
<br /> be severely compromised by this project, About 289 of the 473 sites may
<br /> be destroyed after data ~ecovery. In ~:~ha~ con~ext w~LL hej~au and the
<br /> many buri~Ls be preserved' What about the ona ietd ystem
<br /> s4. UL7.Z:-tax11713~~.G1ekL1~Ci_L.l.-Q1~s8~hP ;nr'roa caA +av ha ao, If more
<br /> than 30~ of the residents in this project are in-migrants to the State,
<br /> the public costs generated to provide health care, education, and other
<br /> services wiLL far ~,utweigh the revenues anticipated from sales tax, state
<br /> income tax, etc, urther, the developer does not intend to pay for any
<br /> medical, education, fire or police protection costs, stating in the EIS
<br /> that the normal planning for grovrth by the government will take care of V _
<br /> them, At +he county Level, increased tax base also includes the raised O,
<br /> property taxes of nearby residents, who are also affected.
<br /> rh.en the developer concedes, stating in the r~inal Lld: "A ~
<br /> residential development could conceivably affect the assessment of nearby R
<br /> properties, either by providing amenities to some immediately adjacent
<br /> Properties or by making the area more valuable to potential buyers Lead- d
<br /> ing to higher market prices, f course, this means higher proper~y taxes, Z c
<br /> Y' S. hhe ~~bvrass11 road,~~ The "bypass" part is that the road, if
<br /> constructed, will bypass the towns of KainaLiu and KeaLakekua and cause
<br /> their decline, as the Kuakini Highway did to Keauhou. Cther than that, j
<br /> this will not be a bypass, straight-through kind of road, since the County ~
<br /> has agreed to reimburse the developer for the cost of the road as develop-4
<br /> ment occurs along this road, according to ordinances passed, _
<br /> For these reasons, we urge you not to apurove the bills under consider-
<br /> ation, but to defer them.
<br /> Thank you for this opportunity to pre ent thistestimony.
<br /> Lo~ ~`L~~TyLer, vice President ~6~IV
<br /> C-fe'~,0~
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