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have gone out and told the surveyors to mark where that water was? So we’re out there at
<br />actually 2.91, not a 2.8 survey, and there’s no marks anywhere on that property of any water
<br />intruding on to Wai Opae Road.
<br />thth
<br />So, September 6, we submitted our SMA. And October 19, we called and made an
<br />appointment to visit, to talk to Larry Brown. We came into the office, and he said we came on
<br />th
<br />the 20, he said, we’ll give you your SMA if you’ll accept a 20-foot shoreline setback, now,
<br />from the road, so 20 foot -. And I’m sure you’re well aware that a shoreline setback is way
<br />different than just a setback, normal setback. You couldn’t, we couldn’t put our septic systems
<br />in it, no lanais can go over it, nothing. So, you still have a small area. The 20 feet left us with
<br />like a 350, 400 footprint to build on, and that’s all that would be left. And we, my husband, in
<br />fact, hit the ceiling.
<br />They had done the survey. Why were they telling us we needed to have the 20-foot shoreline?
<br />The answer was there is a channel somewhere on the road near your property. Why wasn’t the
<br />channel noticed when they were out there to do the survey? We said, no. Well, we didn’t even
<br />say no. We just said, it’s just not acceptable. It’s not acceptable to us. So, they said, okay we’ll
<br />th
<br />fix this by having an extension. So, we go home. I fly out again. November 9 we go out with
<br />Esther this time. Larry didn’t show up. It had been pouring rain all night long, absolutely
<br />pouring. We get out there. There’s a puddle on the road. Esther was just walking around it and
<br />walking around it, and walking around it. She can’t find where the ocean is coming into that
<br />puddle. I finally reached down tasted the water. Esther, this is rain water. This is not salt
<br />water. So, then we walked makai of the road, which is interesting, well, it’s an aside. Okay,
<br />interestingly, that’s 34 feet. We just measure the road. It’s 40, so I don’t know how it was only
<br />34 feet when Esther was measuring it. So, we’re going across, out into that lava beyond, and we
<br />find the ocean water. She measures it as 34 feet. She’s holding the tape on it, and she comes
<br />back, and she says, well, if it’s okay with Chris, I think this is a go, I think we’re going to be able
<br />thth
<br />to give this SMA. So, then the 15 comes. November 15 is our extension. It comes and then it
<br />goes. I’m calling Esther, Esther, what’s going on? It’s on Chris Yuen’s desk waiting for it to be
<br />signed. Next day, it’s on Chris’s, he hasn’t signed it yet. And I finally said, Esther, is there a
<br />problem? She said, yeah, there’s a problem. And that’s when, it’s in one of the letters that’s in
<br />that group of your testimonies. I sat down, went through all of Hawaii County rules and
<br />regulations and found out that if it wasn’t done in the 35 days, that it was deemed approved.
<br />Okay, I sent a letter to Mr. Yuen before I’ve ever gotten an answer on the SMA, okay, telling
<br />him it was deemed approved, that we were going to go for a building permit. He sent back and
<br />said because it wasn’t, because the SMA is under a federal law, it has different, so it’s not
<br />deemed approved. Why, then, was Esther adamant about getting ours signed for our – we had to
<br />put an extension in. Like I said, we had to have it signed. I didn’t put it in right away. She
<br />called three times for the signature. Why was it so important?
<br />WATANABE: Okay –.
<br />SULLIVAN: I’ve got a lot more to add to this, if you don’t mind.
<br />WATANABE: Yeah, can I jump in a minute, please?
<br />SULLIVAN: Sure.
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