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~ ~~P <br /> LAND USE RESEARCH ~ <br /> FOUNDATION OF HAWAII <br /> boo Bishop Street, Ste. tgz8 <br /> Honolulu, Hawaii 968r3 <br /> Phone 5u-g7r7 <br /> Fax 536-ot3z <br /> November 06, 2007 <br /> The Honorable Pete Hoffman <br /> Council Chair & Presiding Officer <br /> and Members of the Hawaii County Council <br /> 333 Kilauea Avenue, 2ntl Floor Council Room <br /> Hilo, Hawaii 96720 counciltestimonvCa~co.hawaii.hi.us <br /> Bill 51, Draft 5, Amendment to Chapter 27, Flood Control, Hawaii County Code <br /> 1983 (2005 Edition), as Amended, Relating to Stormwater Management. (Updates <br /> Chapter 27 to conform to Federal Flood Insurance Program standards) <br /> Dear Chair Hoffman and Council Members, <br /> My name is David Arakawa, Executive Director of the Land Use Research Foundation of <br /> Hawaii ("LURE"), a private, non-profit research and trade association whose members <br /> include major Hawaii landowners, developers and a utility company. One of LURF's <br /> missions is to advocate for reasonable and rational land use planning, legislation and <br /> regulation affecting common issues in Hawaii, including, but not limited to infrastructure, <br /> housing, development, and transportation. <br /> LURE supports stormwater management legislation which is based on federal and state <br /> requirements, and would also support additional requirements which are based on <br /> scientific or engineering principles, practices and considerations. <br /> BACKGROUND <br /> Background of Bill 51. <br /> DPW's original text. It is our understanding that the original text of Bill 51 was drafted <br /> <br /> by the Hawaii County Department of Public Works Department ("DPW") and was <br /> <br /> intended to be a "housekeeping" measure. DPW's originally proposed revisions to the <br /> Hawaii County Code would ensure compliance with the National Flood Insurance <br /> Program (NFIP), thus guaranteeing access to Federal disaster assistance and low- <br /> interest loans from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The original <br /> <br /> version of Bill 51, drafted by DPW, satisfied all federal and state requirements. <br /> <br /> Arbitrary revisions by Council member. Sometime after DPW submitted its original <br /> <br /> draft of Bill 51, a council member made drastic revisions to Bill 51 -adding arbitrary , <br /> 1 <br /> <br />