2009-06-05 TDOLENA - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

US Department of Agriculture as an extension agent first in Kohala, Kona, Hilo, graduating to the College of Tropical Agriculture in Manoa where he ended his career as the State Agronomist. Arthur is the only one of the three that is still alive and he, well, heÓs in his late seventies, is in a care home. The three of them got together because the first of and it was Albert Lyman who the airport is named after. And the trust company who was handling his trust said buy us out or be bought out. So they in 1947 started screwing around and got several family members to sell out, others to join in the company. And in one branch of the family, the Norman Lyman branch, held out. And the way that that was resolved was to identify lands which then became Vacationland, and to work with Stanley Hara, Kazuhisa Abe, and the Kuwaye family to develop them. And the intention with the ag lots to provide ag lot land for people in this part of the island has worked over the years. What I see as an example more modern is the Kona Keahole Ag Lots. ItÓs lava land. People through effort can do something and earn a very good income in ag. The trick is keeping it in ag. And Oahu has the Waimanalo Ag Park which in the sixties and seventies was slipping into urban uses; and this is State land. And the State finally put its foot down, and itÓs now a thriving area for nurseries. And their business has thrived essentially because development has occurred, they need plants. And some of those plants are frankly grown here in this part of the island, shipped over to Oahu and sold to nurseries in Waimanalo. Part of the problem in changing ag uses is ag is sustainable when land values earn a certain amount. Now public records indicate Ms. Dolena paid well into the $600,000 for her lot; and ag is not sustainable on that basis. What has not been disclosed is that she has bought the adjacent lot for $190,000 this year. So part of the issue is do you want to preserve ag, do you want to put the brakes on non-ag uses, or do you want to just open the door? Because if you open the door this will not be the first use. With respect to infrastructure and the conditions, the road condition being proposed by the County would not be proposed on a County-owned road; and it is essentially not wide enough for two cars to pass each other. The applicant has embraced using catchment as an alternative to extending the waterline. ItÓs quite a substantial distance. And while I was planning director between Ò84 and Ò88, the ag water variance standard was created; and the one thing I recall is that in coastal areas you donÓt get much rain and during dry periods youÓre going to have to truck water in. Tied in with the on-site use of water, whether itÓs for agriculture or human uses, is also fire. And, you know, without adequate water service to the site, you have a fire and youÓre going to have a little hose and then buckets, and then youÓre going to run out. The application is thin with respect to several things; and I talked briefly to the applicant when I arrived. She says that there are calculations that have been done regarding water requirements that were not submitted as part of the application. There is no, nothing definitive provided regarding the on-site existing wastewater disposal capacity, and that then turns to the pond which the applicants own on-line newsletters indicate that she finished; and itÓs a tidal influenced pond. Now one of the little arcane things about tidal influenced ponds is itÓs subject to the Army Corp of Engineers permitting. And I checked this and it has never been permitted. The reason it is is because the water goes up and down; and she has acknowledged in on-line newsletters that the water goes up and down. The other reason is ÒpaeÒula, the little red shrimp, which is on the rare and endangered species list. EXHIBIT B 22