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Aloha Windward Planning Commission, <br />I am writing in support of Bill 194, introduced by Councilperson Inaba, that addresses the <br />frequent extension of time on projects that have been approved but not begun or completed in <br />a timely manner. This is especially egregious on the Kona side of our Island but affects us all. <br />Bill 194 is a good start towards addressing the ongoing pattern of speculative landowners, <br />(frequently out of state), and their developers securing zoning changes and development <br />approvals. The timelines on these projects expire, then the owner/developer's representative <br />(often a former employee of the Planning Department) submits a request to extend the zoning <br />and approval. <br />This pattern happens over and over, with language supporting the extensions by the Planning <br />Director that appears to be rote and/or cut and paste. Recent examples include, "Since the <br />applicant acquired the property in (date), they have worked diligently to comply with conditions <br />of approval...", and "...Based on the preceding, the non-performance is the result of conditions <br />that could not have been foreseen or are beyond the control of the applicant and that are not <br />the result of their fault or negligence..." Upon further examination, however, it becomes <br />apparent that the diligence has been on paper, and the unforeseen conditions are they didn't <br />get the funding they thought they could. <br />To my knowledge, no projects were approved, or are extended, with any awareness or <br />consideration of any other. In fact, the owner/developers and the Planning Director cite the <br />Kona Community Development Plan in a broad -brush manner, cherry -picking sections that <br />appear favorable while ignoring the purpose and intent of this plan. <br />There appears to have been little specific or ongoing comprehensive discussion regarding the <br />environmental impacts and strain on limited resources within the Moku — including transit, <br />water, wastewater, light and sound pollution, runoff and the effects on coral and ocean health, <br />piecemeal destruction of pre and post contact archeological sites and knowledge (to name just <br />a few) — when projects are initially approved. There is even less consideration when these are <br />routinely extended 5, 10, 15 or more years after the initial applications. <br />Bill 194 at least begins to put the brakes on this pattern. I additionally recommend pausing all <br />new applications and extensions until it can be publicly determined how many projects are <br />currently approved, pending, in process, expired, previously extended, et cetera, to allow for an <br />assessment of the cumulative effect. This would be good planning. <br />Mahalo nui loa in advance for your support. <br />Janet Matlock <br />Kailua Kona <br />