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may be a fanciful idea that’s promoted in the Envision 2025 Plan, to view Hilo as a plantation
<br />style town, that view is really not based in fact and is totally inappropriate. As the former
<br />speaker Fred Koehnen mentioned, Hilo as a historic place is only what we see it today. But if
<br />you go to the Shinmachi Museum and see some of the photos of what was, the tsunami museum
<br />of the Shinmachi area down here, you will see as he said, it was not pretty, not at all. Anyway,
<br />Downtown was and always has been a complete community, integrated mixed uses. Residences,
<br />recreation, business, transportation, everything else was mixed together. Fish markets,
<br />pharmacies, grocery store, repair shops, hotels, banks, churches, you name it, whatever was
<br />needed it was there.
<br />We find today that in other areas of the United States where single use districts have been
<br />established, it has not worked. History has shown it has not worked. So the trend is to go
<br />forward to mixed use communities. That is what works.
<br />I agree that it’s desirable to retain the existing uses and consequently do not agree that reducing
<br />the building height from 120 to 60 or 80 feet is the thing to do. The 120 feet if some of you
<br />recall was established to allow the construction of the Bayshore Towers. That’s the only
<br />building that has that kind of height. And although the property owners have had opportunity to
<br />go up that high, they have not done that; and they have had that opportunity for many, many
<br />years. So as Mr. Melrose suggested before, just because it’s there does not mean it’s going to
<br />happen. And as Commissioner Domingo has stated, the economics will be a major driving factor
<br />in what the property owners do put up or don’t put up. The hurdle for the economics now is
<br />very, very difficult to get over. And so I would suggest that any change to Chapter 25 that you
<br />consider, you should consider not for the purpose of restricting the business opportunities and the
<br />business buildings, but if anything to encourage activity in Downtown Hilo in order to help us
<br />not only economically but also to reduce the amount of crime in the area. That’s a terrible,
<br />terrible problem; and it’s growing. If anything, provide incentives for the property owners. You
<br />do not do that by taking away allowed uses, such as the service stations and other things that
<br />already are allowed, and provide incentives by giving them greater freedom to engage in the kind
<br />of activities that they feel they can make money from.
<br />WOODWARD: If I could ask you to summarize, please.
<br />NAKAJI: Certainly. I would summarize by saying that, you know, ultimately it will be based
<br />on what the property owners decide to do with their properties. And so any proposed changes
<br />should look at how it impacts their opportunities. Thank you.
<br />WOODWARD: All right, thank you very much. Any questions for Mr. Nakaji? Okay, no. All
<br />right, Mr. Lowe, if you can give us your name and address, and you may begin.
<br />LOWE: Okay, thank you. My name is Bill Lowe and I live at 2427 Kaiwiki Road. And I’ve
<br />lived in Hilo for five years now. I’m a resident of Hilo. It’s not a very long time, I’m a short-
<br />timer here. But I’m not a short timer as far as change goes. And by change I’m referencing
<br />Chapter 25 against the limitation on the height. I’m not even sure even if you should have a
<br />height limitation, because when changes comes at you, it can hit you from a different angle, a
<br />different time, it can happen all at once. And you’d have to make changes accordingly. I don’t
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