COM 0176.105 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 31, 2007 Il,.; 3~ 4 Honorable Pete Hoffman, Chairman Members of Hawaii County Council 333 Kilauea Ave. Hilo, HI 96720 Dear Honorable Members, A testimony, opposing the proposed changes to amend Bill No. 51 Chapter 27 Flood Control, Hawaii County Code. Although flood management considerations should be addressed in certain azeas of the island, the proposed changes tazget the entire island and also exceeds the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEM,A). The proposed changes are unreasonable and biased. It forces the agricultural connznunity to comply to zules and regulations that are impossible to achieve and will not allow them to survive the world- wide agricultural competition fiom an economic standpoint. The proposed statement to be included in article 4, section 27-18 (c) (6) which basically states that lands with slopes exceeding 10% will limit the land owner to developing only 20% of the total land area. This statement as printed in the draft is too vague because it does not address farmers and ranchers who obtain grading and grubbing exemptions from their local Soil & Water Conservation District Board. Will these individuals be exempt from the changes? Also, the geology of the Big Island will put most of the Ka'u and Hamakua lands into this category. A portion of the Puna and Waiakea districts will also be affected. In relation to the State of Hawaii, these four districts account for a large portion of agricultural commodities produced statewide. This proposed 20% developznent limit will bring upon a severe econozttic constraint to our island's fanners and ranchezs. They will not be able to expand, or to a certain extent maintain older farm/ranch land and still remain competitive. Many may go out of business which will cause higher demazzd for agricultural products from the U.S znainland. The proposed statement io be included in article 4, section 27-20 (g) essentially states that all flood control structures iu new agricultural subdivisions be designed to retain all rainfall up to a 100-year storm event on the agricultural land on which the rainfall fell. This statement should also be revisited with a more feasible approach. It's fairly impossible to retain-all water during a 100-year storm event due to the reason that a 100-year storm event has the ability to cause major damage that human beings can do notlzizzg to control. A 100-year storm event may be considered a disaster in certain areas. In addition, natural existing outlets, such as gulches or streams, are not large enough to contain or channel water from a 100-year storm event. During a 100- year storm event water in these gulches or streams are also uucomrollable_