2004-01-16 Western United Life - Laserfiche WebLink

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My objection to this plan is that it really isn't a plan. I was lucky or unlucky enough to sit through about four of the sessions that Mr. Yamashiro put on and Ms. Goldstein put on, and what came out of those, my general feeling that came out of those is, for instance, they're going to put in maybe 150 transient accommodations. Can anybody explain to me what a transient accommodation is, what it will look like, how much space it takes up, how tall it is? Anything about it? I don't think so. Certainly, Mr. Yamashiro couldn't do it. If you do the arithmetic, there are 171 acres available, approximately 40-some of which are not usable and will be a green belt. There's so much available for commercial. You finally whittle yourself down to an area where you're going to put 600 dwellings. Now, Mr. Supp said, well, maybe these dwellings are going to be on 4,000 square foot parcels and share common walls. Other people have proposed no 10-story buildings. Now 10-story buildings are out. But what is going to look like? Is it going to be apartment buildings? Is it going to be common walls? Are we going to be packed like sardines as they've done in Honolulu? We don't know. And nobody's able to tell us. However, finally, what -, after a lot of questioning during those hearings, or hearings, during those meetings, what came out was the developer not only doesn't know, they don't care. Their plan is to pump and dump. Their plan is to change the zoning, put in the minimum infrastructure required, not even complete the road, for instance, and then sell the real estate off to other developers. Now, obviously, whatever promises that Western Insurance makes, those other developers won't be held to. All of this other stuff about how much of it's going to be transient housing, how much of it's going to be regular housing, that's all pie in the sky. It's not really relevant. The developers are going to get rid of the property. We have the opportunity here to look around the State of Hawai`i and see what's been done and what's been done wrong and what's been done right and the opportunity to start doing it right in Hilo, or the opportunity just to continue on what's going on with the rest of the State. That's all I have to say. FUJIKAWA:Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? If none, you may sit back, and would the Applicant's representative please step forward. You have heard the testimonies from the various people. Do you have any questions at this time, Mr. Yamashiro? YAMASHIRO:Mr. Chairman, we have consulted our environmental report about the question about the Hawaiian hawk. We do an avian transect, and no hawks were seen on the site, although the consultant did indicate that the hawk probably foraged over the area as it does over a majority of Hilo. It did indicate that the habitat on the site is not necessarily suited `i for the hawk and that the hawk preferred nesting in native trees like h`a. Also, that the dense vegetation of the area was not a suitable hunting area for the hawk and that there weren't open grassy areas where it could hunt. There are some recommendations that were made as far as what to do with -, in case the hawk was encountered, and I think we intend to address all of those. 23