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access on the Red Road are 14 long-established residential lots each 1/2 <br /> acre or less, and on the makai side of the Red Road an additional 12 lots, 9 <br /> less than 3 acres. Totaled all together we have 43 lots with about 19 current <br /> residences, all directly affected by this application. One can easily foretell <br /> that in 5 or 10 years there will be 30 to 40 homes. This short stretch of the <br /> Red Road is fast becoming a condensed and delimited Ag-Residential <br /> community. <br /> The short- and longer-term future of the proposed "holistic education <br /> center" project is expected to increase eco-tourism; the long, overnight <br /> retreats in particular attract affluent mainland and international guests who <br /> can be bussed in from the Hilo airport. But the day-time only classes, <br /> ag-sustainability workshops, morning yoga workouts, self-growth weekly <br /> series, for example, may provide affordable learning opportunities for local <br /> residents up and down the Red Road and the greater Puna makai <br /> community; and that increased daily vehicular traffic has not been <br /> addressed by the Application nor by the Planning Department. The <br /> proposal will thus bring unforseen increased traffic along with increased <br /> construction activities, increased noise and music, and other potential <br /> negative impacts for neighbors. All this, with Kalani, a much bigger, much <br /> older retreat center with a terrific reputation for its market, less than two <br /> miles down the road. We neighbors see no benefit to our local community <br /> for this project. <br /> At the same time, development of Ag-residential homes continues to <br /> increase precisely in the closest proximity to the applicant's proposed <br /> holistic education center. Yet it is possible that in the future the applicant <br /> may seek amendments to the Special Permit to again expand the center's <br /> activities and again expand accommodations. It is with this undesirable <br /> potential future in mind that if the Special Permit must be approved, we <br /> seek to go on record to permanently prohibit expansion of this Special <br /> Permit application. There is a limit to how much "unusual use" and illegal <br /> use of this kind our current Ag-residential community can accommodate <br /> now, and even more so for a significantly larger future residential <br /> community. That is why some of our recommendations have included <br />