|
many that have asked us and probably ones that haven't even asked us because they didn't know
<br /> that we would do this. That's a big part of our, of our mission, and also a big part of why we
<br /> want to build this new space. Also, event space for kama`aina, you know, I, you all live here and
<br /> you know, there are not a lot of venues for locals. Almost all of our weddings are for destination
<br /> clients right now, and that's because of the small size. If we were approved for a small wedding
<br /> venue that's smaller, you know, that's - - - 50 people, let's say, that would be fine for us and our
<br /> bottom line, that would be fine to make enough money to survive as a farm. But it really doesn't
<br /> serve locals. Locals need a place that they can go that can have, you know, up to 100 guests.
<br /> And so that is why we applied for that higher number. The weddings I enjoy hosting and that I
<br /> really want to do are for smaller amounts. Our average size wedding in 2019 was 29 guests, and
<br /> that is right where I want to be. That is the size and type—we are talking about small intimate
<br /> events. The Planning Department in their recommendation said that we'll have maximum of 250
<br /> to 500 people; yet, that is, that is the maximum, but that is a huge misconstruing of what we
<br /> actually do where the vast majority of our events are small, under 50 guests. And then we want
<br /> to have a few, a handful, of larger events for kama`aina and for local charities.
<br /> Also, so finally, we are trying to follow the letter of the law in every way that we can. We did
<br /> not receive any complaints for our venue for the three years that we are in operation, nor did we
<br /> receive a notice of violation from Planning. We were the ones who started this process
<br /> unprompted so that we could be in compliance with all regulations. Since we have applied for
<br /> our permit to be in compliance with our zoning and to show our good faith, we have not accepted
<br /> any new bookings, which has put a huge financial strain on our business. If it wasn't for SBA
<br /> loans and, you know, some of our own savings, we would have been out of business already
<br /> from having not taken any new bookings for over eight months, nine months now. And that is
<br /> really, really hard. So I just want to be clear like we are Hawaii farmers. We do farm the vast
<br /> majority of our property. We will continue to do that. We need your help. We need a lot of
<br /> help. We need it from you. Please help us and approve our permit. Thank you. That's all I
<br /> have to say.
<br /> CARR SMITH: Thank you very much, thank you. Did your husband want to say anything?
<br /> (Pause) No? Okay. I think Zendo wanted to move to you, Mr. Tuhy. Did you want to chime in
<br /> regarding the CC&Rs over CPR docs?
<br /> TUHY: Well, actually, Madam Chairperson and Members of the commission, I, my comments
<br /> will be really pretty limited. First of all, to confirm what Ms. Hickey just told you, I've
<br /> represented these folks for a number of years before this permit issue came up, and the day they
<br /> found out, I think it was the day or within hours quite literally of finding out that they needed this
<br /> Special Permit, I first referred them to a land use planning they ended up with Mr. Kern—and,
<br /> so I said the first thing is getting into compliance. And then immediately, they were
<br /> discontinuing all activity. So I think they've acted in good faith, and they've done the best that
<br /> they can to comply with the rules.
<br /> The second thing I wanted to look at, and this is sometime later, we had looked at the roadway,
<br /> and as Ms. Jackson indicated, this is a private roadway. There are easement rights over it. But
<br /> there is no road maintenance agreement. And there was kind of a concerted effort made to create
<br /> a roadway maintenance agreement among the owners. It was unsuccessful, and it was an attempt
<br /> 18
<br /> EXHIBIT A
<br />
|