COM 0526.002 2010-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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greater traffic impacts. A fast food restaurant would be allowable with very dangerous access from the Highway on a blind curve in either direction. Our concerns regarding our neighbor's business proposal are based on our experiences operating a small business for 15 years in close proximity to auto repair shops in Honolulu. We are not imagining what it's like to be their neighbors, we know. 2. The applicants are proposing a major repair establishment on a house lot. Defined by the Hawaii County Code a major repair establishment provides "repair activities which are likely to have some impact on the environment and adjacent land uses by virtue of their appearance, noise, size, traffic generation or operational characteristics. Major repair establishments include: ... gasoline and diesel motor repair... heavy equipment repair... vehicular repair, including repair of body and fender, and straightening of frame and body parts." Mr. Souza states in written and public testimony that he provides fleet maintenance for the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Two letters of support from Park staff indicate Mr. Souza will be servicing Park fire engines and other fleet vehicles at Mr. Souza's facility. The 2008 business plan for the Park states that "Excluding Law Enforcement, 96% of the Park's fleet is comprised of large vehicles ". The Park also employs two full time mechanics to perform priority repairs. We are not "anti business ", we are former small business owners and we understand the appeal of a home based business. We would support any home based business allowable in an RS -10 neighborhood. This proposed use is decidedly not a home based business and there will be negative neighborhood impact. 3. Noise levels will very likely exceed those allowable for a business next to a residence. Because we are located uphill and overlooking the subject property and because of the configuration of the proposed business opposite the two story house there will likely be a "canyon effect" of sound reverberating between the two buildings and increasing the ambient sound level up to our house. Our lanai is 68 ft. from the Applicants' property line. The Applicants claim their house will block the sound but that building is only partially between us and the proposed business which has a larger foot print than the house. Anyone who has ever patronized an auto repair /body shop has experienced the unpleasant noise levels they generate, yet no acoustical engineering study testing diesel engines, compressors, or pneumatic tools applied to metal surfaces factoring in the canyon effect has yet been conducted or even proposed. 4. Toxic fumes vented from the business will not dissipate in voggy conditions but will rise up hill with the vog to our house. As we can smell our neighbor's BBQ when they are grilling in their front yard we are not reassured that we will not be subject to these fumes.