2019-11-06 Letter to Bob Wessels re EIS for Town of Aina Le'a

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-.0-4-4„:11',./;‘•• •-.0. :' -7'..1fN; .0-4-4„0'M‘' '; '• Wil Okabe .. _ ,„ Vd,,V Managing Director Harry Kim •'. ` ,'�.,','�:•'. Mayor _--we•se _=-,--,.-- Barbara J.Kossow ;�'1- V.: Deputy Managing Director Chuff fu. .of 7.4SSixn�`t ®ffiae of fI r4 t1rar 25 Aupuni Street,Suite 2603 • Hilo,Hawaii 96720 • (808)961-8211 • Fax(808)961-6553 KONA: 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy.,Bldg.C • Kailua-Kona,Hawaii 96740 (808)323-4444 • Fax(808)323-4440 November 6, 2019 Mr. Bob Wessels Aina Le'a, Inc. P.O. Box 385050 Waikoloa, HI 96738-5041 Re: October 2019 Preparation Notice for an Environmental Impact Statement Project: Town of Aina Le'a TMK: (3) 6-8-001:025, 036, 038, 039 and 069 Dear Messrs. Wessel and Bernstein and Ms. Valenzuela, This follows our meeting of October 14, 2019. Thank you for sharing with me Aina Lea Inc.'s proposed Lulana Gardens project and the desire to construct affordable housing in this County. I encourage Aina Lea, Inc. to work with the Planning Department to produce a final environmental impact statement ("EIS")which the Planning Department can legally accept in order to allow the Lulana Gardens project to proceed. I also encourage Aina Lea Inc, to review the law and the history of its predecessor's previous meetings with, and submittals to, the Planning Department because the representations made to me at our meeting on October 14, 2019, appear to be incorrect:. • Lulana Gardens Project is not exempt from environmental review: The assertion that affordable housing projects are exempt from environmental review under Hawaii State law is not correct. While there is an exemption from environmental reviews for certain affordable housing projects under the new Hawaii Administrative Rules, your project does not appear to meet the requirements for that exemption. • There is not a valid accepted Final EIS for the Lulana Gardens Project: In 2010, the Planning Department previously accepted a final EIS for a larger project that differs from the present proposal for Lulana Gardens. As you know, in 2013 the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit found that the Planning Department should not have accepted that statement because it did not take a hard look at whether the project covered by the 2010 EIS was a segment of a larger project or also whether there were cumulative impacts which were not fully analyzed. o The plaintiff in the court case challenged the sufficiency of the 2010 EIS, noting that it only covered approximately 1,092 acres of property, while the 2007 EIS County of Hawaii is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.