|
OLSON: We formed, in the process we formed working groups on each
<br />element along the lines of what the General Plan looks like. In other words, there was a
<br />transportation element, there was a recreational element. Each one of the elements in the
<br />General Plan format had a working group. Those working groups were totally public.
<br />That was totally done by the community. They got very little support from the County.
<br />Each one of the steering committee members acted as a liaison to each one of those
<br />groups. So we kept informed of what they were doing, the direction they were going and
<br />tried to provide liaisons back to the County. So if any individual or any group wanted to
<br />weigh in on any one of the topics, they were more than welcome to do that. The email
<br />dialogue was there for all to see. It was a very transparent process. So there are people
<br />who joined the process and had left the process, but no one was excluded.
<br />WATANABE: Thank you. Well, Fellow Commissioners, do we have any further
<br />questions for the presenters? Mr. Iwashita?
<br />IWASHITA: Thank you. I want to thank all of you for all the work you’ve done
<br />and the impressive report that we have and the plan presented. I guess my comment right
<br />now is, you know, I am of the belief that the more community involvement we have in
<br />our planning process the better it is, and that the results should be better than Oahu,
<br />should be better than Maui. Okay? Cause I, my humble opinion is it never worked over
<br />there, you know. And we have all the same General Plan laws, we have all the same
<br />subdivision laws, we have all the same building code requirements that Oahu has, we
<br />have the same planning commission process, we have the same county council approval
<br />process; and it doesn’t work. It didn’t work in the last 50 years on Oahu, it didn’t work
<br />in the last 40 years on Maui; and if we keep going down this road it’s not going to work
<br />over here. And we have much more aina to mess up over here than they have over there.
<br />Okay? So I want to thank you for all your hard work. In my view this is a half a step.
<br />You talked about seven years, I don’t think so, you know, unless the community, all of
<br />you and more of us, consistently stays involved in this process; and one of my
<br />reservations about this plan is that it doesn’t provide for that. It really doesn’t. It says
<br />basically Planning Department make sure it works. For most of it, right? And I really
<br />think there needs to be, and I’ll get to it later, but my question for now is part of my
<br />concern is the real diverse area that this plan covers. Because in my mind it wouldn’t
<br />make sense to make it, to have Steering Committees for like Keaau, for the Volcano area,
<br />for Paradise Park, Orchidland, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres; maybe even that’s too big an
<br />area. But, you know, we have these sections, you know, of this district that have really
<br />specific kinds of issues to address. And in the case of Paradise Park, Orchid Land,
<br />Hawaiian Acres and Fern Acres, thousands and thousands and thousands of buildable
<br />lots, right, that people I think in those areas should have an opportunity, right, to come
<br />out on a regular basis and address the real substantial infrastructure problems that they
<br />have to address in the next several decades.And it’s going to have an impact on the rest
<br />of the island, right? So, I mean, I don’t know if you have a comment on that, or you, you
<br />know, as far as the process. But, you know, those three particular areas I think really in
<br />my mind would justify having steering committees with authority, you know, to have on
<br />an on-going basis to address the CDPs for those areas.
<br />
<br />7
<br />
<br />
|