PD BACKGROUND REPORT (PL-SPP-2022-000011)

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I. INTRODUCTION The Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) ("applicant")is requesting a Special Permit for the temporary operation of an array of satellite dishes to conduct research on Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). The property is located at 96-1048 Center Road in the Wood Valley Homestead Lots, Pahala, Ka`u, Hawaii. North Road intersects with the northern portion of the subject parcel with Center Road on the west. Highway 11 is located roughly 3 miles to the South(Figure 1). The property totals 21.80 acres and is zoned Agricultural 20-acres (20-A). The subject property, which is known as Lot 7 within the Wood Valley Homestead Lots, is owned by Ray Akio and Pamela Naomi Mizuno. The Mizunos also own the neighboring 21.6-acre lot on the makai side where their principal residence is located. A License Agreement, which became effective on February 25th, 2021, will allow ASIAA to lease 5-acres, being a portion of Lot 7, for the proposed project(Figure 2). If approved, the applicant wishes to build a temporary array of ten (10) satellite dishes with two (2) storage containers, one (1) catchment tank, and one (1)port-a- potty on approximately 0.5 acres. The remaining 4.5 acres will be used for agricultural purposes. Figure 3 shows the proposed site plan. The initial term of the License Agreement between the Licensor(Ray Akio and Pamela Naomi Mizuno) and the Licensee (ASIAA)is five (5)years, commencing on February 25th 2021 (herein referred to as "Lease" or"License"). The Lease will expire on February 25th, 2026, unless the Licensee (ASIAA)timely exercises an option to renew the Lease for another five (5) years pursuant to Paragraph 7.01 and 7.02 of the License Agreement(Exhibit A). IL PROJECT DESCRIPTION 3A. Project Concept and Components The applicant is respectfully requesting a special permit to operate a temporary array of ten (10) satellite dishes to conduct research on Fast Radio Bursts. FRBs are powerful radio bursts coming from within and outside of our galaxy, which are not yet understood. In radio astronomy, a fast radio burst(FRB) is a transient radio pulse of length ranging from a fraction of a millisecond to a few milliseconds, caused by some high-energy astrophysical process not yet understood. Astronomers estimate the average FRB releases as much energy in a millisecond as the sun puts out in 3 days. While extremely energetic at their sources, the strength of the signal reaching Earth has been described as 1,000 times less than from a mobile phone on the Moon. The first FRB was discovered in 2007. Many FRBs have since been recorded, including several that have been detected to repeat in seemingly irregular ways. Nonetheless, one FRB has been detected to repeat in a regular way:particularly, FRB 180916 seems to pulse every 16.35 days. Most FRBs are extragalactic, but the first Milky Way FRB was detected by the CHIME radio telescope in April 2020. In June 221, astronomers reported over 500 FRBs from outer space detected. 4