2009-08-28 TKONACOUNTRYCLUB - Laserfiche WebLink

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FUKE: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission. M name is Sidney Fuke. IÓm a planning consultant, and IÓve been retained by the owner of Kona Country Club, Inc. to assist with the preparation and processing of this application. I would also like to at this time acknowledge the presence of Mr. Glen Koyama of Belt Collins Hawaii, who is here to be able to answer any technical questions that, if IÓm unable to. Also we have Mr. Mike Yukon who is the ownerÓs representative and currently the general manager of Kona Country Club. I would also like to acknowledge the presence of two individuals who have been very instrumental in providing cultural guidance to this project as, you know, as we conceived the project and as hopefully the project has developed subject to approvals that we might need over the next few months; and these are Lily Kong and her daughter who also happens to be Lily as well. Your staffÓs background report is very adequate and comprehensive. IÓd like to just kind of point out several things just for the CommissionersÓ information. Really like out of deference to the areaÓs topography, the terrain, the historical aspects of this area, and a lot of it was gleaned as a result of the discussions that we directly and indirectly have had with people, area kpuna, particularly like, with Lily Kong. The vision that she had shared as well as the vision of the owner are pretty much like parallel; what they donÓt want to see is a project thatÓs totally leveled like how we have seen some of the projects that have been developed along the North Kona and South Kohala Coast where you basically strip it down and you rebuild the total environment. The vision that the owner has for this project is really like to have a lot of the units sculptured within the existing environment to retain as much of the natural landscape as possible. And this is not only out of deference to the areaÓs topography and the terrain but there is a lot of, Keauhou has a lot of history meaning you have, itÓs the birthplace of Kamehameha III, we have the famous KuamoÒo battle and then, of course, the Lekeleke burial area. The hlua slide is featured on my far left Î letÓs see Î this is the hlua slide. And there are also like a number of significant archaeological features that are on this site. There are actually four sites that have been recommended for preservation and these are like, this is a burial with a cave, and there is also another one over here that is a burial and a platform, and there are actually two significant habitation sites Î one is over here and the other one is over here. There is also like a stepping stone, remnants of the stepping stone trail that purportedly served, you know, from the mauka area going all the way down to Keauhou that generally kind of li that the owner also intends to preserve. We have, in the discussions with Lily and others, recognized a need to retain as much of the existing vegetation in the area, particularly the monkeypod treend so what the owner intends to do is not only retain but they would like to introduce additional monkeypod and other plant species into this area that would be very low-water tolerant and not to create like a, you know, like a new landscape environment thatÓs totally out, that does n So, true to that sense of commitment, what the owner has already represented to Lily and others is that prior to submittal of the more detailed plans, you know, to the Planning Department for Plan Approval review, it would consult with these individuals, and then submit a report together with the plans to the Planning Department for the review. So at least representations that we are making today can be collaborated in the subsequent permitting ph EXHIBIT A 3