2006-01-06 TGARDNER - Laserfiche WebLink

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C. NAHOOIKAIKA:Okay. We, Wilfred, is my husband, and myself, we relocated to the Big Island in September of 2001. It was a major transition for us, for me from Oahu. But home was Kailua and I thought, wow, I found a new home that I could really grow to love, which I did, which we both did. We looked at over 50 properties when we first came over here, most of them in Hilo, before settling on 15-2591 Keaau-Pahoa Highway. We were attracted to this green, lush environment. It was set away from, you know, it didnt have neighbors immediately next to me like we did on Oahu. So it was spacious, it had privacy, it was country living. It was affordable, it was on county water, and it had lots of character and not exceedingly remote to put this city girl, you know, a little bit out of place. Our appeal today to the Commission is to deny this application for a zone change. When we purchased our property it was going to be our life-long home for our children and grandchildren to enjoy. If we wanted to live in an industrious area we would have stayed on Oahu. I mean, can youunderstandthat?WewouldhavestayedonOahu.TherescertainlyenoughplacesonOahu and a good share of them in Kona and in Hilo. There are needs in every community; and there may be a need for a storage facility. I just dont believe that it needs to be here. We chose this property and we dont want to see zoning changes. Mr. Gardner never resided here, like we have. So he doesnt really have an appreciation of the locale as weve developed. Its a business opportunity, thats his choice. The property, Mr. Gardners property changed ownership three times in the short period of time that we were there. When we first got there, the first owner sold it without us even knowing it was being sold. The second owner sold it again, and we still didnt know it was being sold. The sellers probably profited, and thats okay. Thats not expected, I mean, thats not unexpected. But lets try to keep it residential. When we learned that Mr. Gardner had purchased this property my husband contacted him, informing him that we were interested in acquiring it. We were genuinely serious about trying to preserve our home and our neighborhood and the appeal that it offers. There are just not enough places in Hawaii or anywhere else that has this, that Ive come to appreciate about Pahoa. Keaau-Pahoa Highway has exceeded its capacity, we all agree on that. Punas growth and the new Pahoa Market Place make it an extremely busy stretch of road. To allow more cars to enter and exit this busy road is irresponsible in my opinion. But Ive listened to some of the testimony this morning and I understand the survey being where the volume would only increase about 20 cars per day. That may be. Thats 20 cars. I know because often when I have to exit our property its a lengthy wait in order to do it safely. It is difficult to turn into our property, that would be a left turn coming from Hilo, because cars come so fast on that road, or they try to pass on the shoulders. So it presents some pretty serious hazards, potential hazards. I can speak first hand because I had a very close call one day trying to come out of my driveway where the people across the street had their blinker to make a left turn, they were facing Hilo and I was well inside the approach of my driveway, when a truck overtook this car on the right and nearly creamed me. He was going fast and blasting his horn as if I was doing something wrong. But it happens. There are just too many impatient and inconsiderate and reckless drivers out there. Its scary to think of the potential hazards that a zoning change could bring. 15EXHIBIT B