PD BACKGROUND REPORT (PL-SMA-2023-000034)

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H. Potential Impacts of the Proposed Project on Cultural, Historical and Archaeological Resources Negative Impacts: None As previously noted,vegetation on the proposed site within the Agricultural District, is composed of grasses (i.e., guinea grass and centipede grass), Gunpowder, African Tulip Ironwood Trees. Hau has overgrown the gulch Pali on to the agricultural area and will be trimmed.These trees will be trimmed/removed as shown in Exhibit 6. Although no professional flora and fauna surveys have been performed, the applicant does not believe that rare or endangered floral or faunal resources are located on site. The subject property and vicinity do not appear to contain flora or fauna resources that would be utilized for gathering.There does not appear to be any other valued cultural, historical or natural resource, including any existing traditional and customary native Hawaiian rights practiced on or near the subject property. The proposed project would not adversely impact any traditional and customary native Hawaiian rights.There does not appear to be any valued cultural, historical, or natural resources present. In the unlikely event that archaeological resources or human remains are encountered during construction activities, work in the immediate area of the discovery would be halted and DLNR-SHPD contacted as outlined in Hawai'i Administrative Rules Chapter 13-275. Archaeological resources are highly unlikely to exist on the subject property, which has been used for sugar cultivation purposes beginning as early as 1878 with the establishment of the Hakalau Sugar Plantation. In the 1960's, the Hakalau Plantation Company became part of the Pepeekeo Sugar Company, and later part of Mauna Kea Sugar. The Hakalau Bay Sugar Mill commenced operation in 1881 and ceased operation in 1973. Sugar cane cultivation operations in this area ceased sometime in 1990's and existed in the area for approximately 112 years. Exhibit 13 shows a topographic map depicting flumes on the property. A survey done in 2002 (shown in Exhibit 14) when the subdivision was platted, shows a concrete structure near the northwest corner of the subject property. According to a local historian and former sugar company employee John Cross,this three-sided concrete structure was used as a staging area to load cane onto the flume running through the property. As explained to me,trucks containing sugar cane from independent growers were brought to this site where their load was weighed and credited before being loaded onto the flume. Mr. Cross was a former employee of the sugar company and personally supervised the dismantling of this staging area in 1976.The roads depicted for use on the site plan are the same roads built for the flume loading operation. As shown on the recent survey(Figure 1),the Old Mamalohoa Highway right-of-way(abandoned) has an easement that runs through the entrance of this property, initially running parallel to Hawaii Belt Highway. As it descends southward on a slope, the old right-of-way then turns to the west and under what is now the Hakalau bridge. Although the continuance of this road is washed out under the bridge, it used to run westward along the top of the gulch on the north side of the Hakalau Stream, down to the bottom of the gulch, across an old concrete bridge built in 1932 and then back of the slope of the south side of the Hakalau gulch to the top of the Pali. 8