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facts and maybe wait and see what some of these community groups have come up with to see <br />the best way to handle the traffic and the infrastructure. People come here because we are not <br />Oahu, and because we are not Maui. We still have some beautiful beaches, places to hike, and <br />wide open spaces. I ask that you be careful about granting permits until we address the many <br />problems that affect those of us who live here now. Without doing that, we€re compounding our <br />problems to the point that any fixes will be at best costly and at worst unable to be addressed. <br />Thank you. <br />ALAMEDA:Thank you. Any questions for our testifier? Commissioner Graham? <br />GRAHAM:Just a few comments. I think we do, I mean, I€m really in favor of <br />preserving our shorelines and, you know, not having these kinds of projects. But I think we need <br />to keep in mind, like I think what Mr. Mooers was saying, in this particular case there is a project <br />immediately to the north and another immediately to the south with just as high or higher density <br />than this one right now, and the Planning Director has put in rather stringent requirements to try <br />to preserve the viewplanes the best he can. So, in general, you know, I€m inclined to go along <br />with this one because of those particular considerations. I think the water is coming from <br />Waikoloa Water Company, if I remember. No? <br />MOOERS:Kohala Ranch. <br />GRAHAM:Kohala Ranch, excuse me. Kohala Ranch Water Company, that€s what I <br />meant. I know it used to be an issue with Kohala Estates folks that Kohala Ranch was not giving <br />them as much water as they wanted and all, but I haven€t heard any more about that lately. <br />Anyway, I certainly feel like you do, but it feels like the most important thing is to do the best we <br />can with the viewplane on something like this. <br />SACHER:Okay. <br />GRAHAM:Thanks. <br />ALAMEDA:Any other questions? We do appreciate your testimony. Thank you very <br />much. Will the applicant/representative please return. As you€re sitting there, Mr. Mooers, any <br />additional thoughts came to mind? <br />MOOERS:Yeah, I€d like to address a couple of things Mr. Sacher brought up. I think <br />that he€s right, we should try to get as many facts as possible. First of all, as far as the access to <br />this site, this site was owned by Kahua and Ponoholo Ranches for years and it has been gated. <br />Even though there have been some lateral pedestrian accesses, there has been no mauka/makai <br />access through this. There has been no jeep trails through this. So it€s not a matter of taking an <br />area and fencing it off or gating it away. The access will actually be improved to this area, <br />improvedoverwhatitistoday. <br />Second,asyoupointedoutMr.Graham,thewaterforthisareaisgoingtobeprovidedbya <br />privatewatersystem,theKohalaRanchWatersystem.Thisprojectwiththislowdensityis <br />usingjustafractionofthe87,000gallonsadaythathasbeenallocatedtothisproject.Sothere <br />reallyisverylowimpactonthatwater.AndIwouldpointoutthatWestHawaiihasmore <br />groundwaterthantheentireislandofOahu.Sotheproblemswehavewithwaterisnotthatwe <br />don€thavewater,it€swedon€thavethedistributionsystem.Inthiscase,theKohalaWater <br />Systemdrillingtheirownwells,providingtheirownreservoirsprovidesthatwater.Sothisis <br />notwaterthatwaspartofthepublicsystem.SoIjustwantedtopointoutthat,again,it€slow <br />density, much lower density than the surrounding properties are. There€s adequate water for it <br />and there€s actually excess water that€s allocated for the project that will not be used. <br />ALAMEDA:Given that, any further questions? Commissioner Galdones. <br />13 <br /> <br />