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Page ] of 2 Murashige, Laura From: Charles Flaherty [oneheart@aloha.net] ~1~„ ~ 2i) f~,`~ r!~ Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:57 AM To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us ~ i Cc: Ford, Brenda; Pilago, K. Angel; Hoffmann, Pete; Jacobson, Bob; Yagong, Dominic; Naeole, Emily; Ikeda, Donald; Yoshimoto, J; Higa, Stacy Subject: Comments on Bill 51 Aloha mai Madame Chair and members of the Public Works and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, During the past few weeks, I've been meeting with and speaking to a number of people across our island about flooding. There is one clear common theme. Flooding in our community is being caused by the County allowing developers to run amok over the health, safety, and welfare of local people with impunity. The local people are saying, "no more already". The Planning Director made it clear in his recent report to this Council that he is running the Kona Community Development Plan process. A major theme is that Kona's floodplains should become green open space and parks. So why does the Planning Director continue to give favorable recommendations for development within Kona's floodplains? Why is he favoring his will over that of the Kona community? The Department of Public Works has been taking a lot of heat from the many people who are being flooded, and rightfully so, but is this the only place where the heat should be directed? The DPW made a very good point to me last month in my discussions about revisions to our flood control ordinance. They pointed out that flooding was ultimately a land use issue. That is, once the Planning Director and the County Council have made a general plan designations, rezonings, etc., the DPW can only mitigate the impact of the resulting development. For instance, say someone from the mainland wants to realize his or her dream of a coffee estate. He buys a 40- acre parcel of undeveloped agriculturally-zoned land in Holualoa covered by forest. He then goes to the County for a grubbing permit. With this permit he removes the forest. Immediately, the amount of rainfall that this parcel can absorb is drastically reduced. The next time it rains, water Floods off the parcel and onto neighboring land for the first time in living memory. The County does not have any existing law which considers the floodplain management problem I just described. Therefore, floodplain management should include land use regulations. I hope this fact can be brought into your discussion of revisions to floodplain management laws. Yesterday, I spoke with Dr. Wendy Wiltse with the Environmental Protection Agency in Honolulu. She had recently taken a helicopter tour of the area in Kohala where a large section of coral reef has been buried by sediment. She described the watershed draining into this coastal area as being "a mess". It is over-grazed and deforested. She observed where illegal grubbing and grading had occurred without Best Management Practices and where dirt and concrete were placed in watercourses to form driveways and roads. Dr. Wiltse also stated that she observed poor drainage planning and remarked that the County's drainage standards were lax and out-of-date (1970). For instance, she noted that numerous culverts are under-sized and clog during flood events causing unforeseen consequences. The citizens of this County face two problems when it comes to flooding. The first problem is that existing laws are not being properly administered and enforced by the County administration. The DPW "relies upon the community to be our eyes and ears'. Yet the community believes that the DPW does not adequately respond when they file a complaint. The second problem is that even when existing laws are followed, the la s ~J._l.- Comm. No. " o , Ref. 70: Pre qR 2 0 l~8ntn11~ 3/20/2007 Ref. Dote~-