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April 22, 2021 <br /> Thorne Abbott <br /> Coastal Planners LLC <br /> 117 Loi Pohaku Place <br /> Wailuku, HI 96793 <br /> Dear Thorne, <br /> The Kulakane Association of Apartment Owners would like to express our thanks and <br /> appreciation for your assistance and guidance in planning and obtaining the necessary agency <br /> approvals and permits for our upcoming sinkhole repair/erosion mitigation project. As in the <br /> cases of projects you have previously assisted us with,you have provided expertise and insight <br /> that have allowed us to navigate the byzantine, often exasperating, and continually changing <br /> Hawaii state and Maui County regulatory/political environments. <br /> A key to permitting any project along the shoreline of Hawaii under the current regulatory <br /> climate,it seems,is regulatory reconnaissance —the development of intelligence regarding what <br /> is likely to be approvable given existing and likely upcoming regulations and policies, as well as <br /> the personalities involved(including those of local activists who oppose nearly all activities <br /> along the shoreline). Your past and continuing experience within and adjacent to the <br /> environmental regulatory and political systems of Hawaii(and especially Maui County) are <br /> unique and valuable. <br /> The need for our current project first arose in the fall of 2017 with the formation of a sinkhole <br /> beneath our pool deck, quickly followed by additional sinkholes along the southern portion of <br /> our seawall. You assisted us in quickly obtaining a permit to perform temporary repairs <br /> intended to stop further erosion. Unfortunately,the County required that we use only"beach <br /> quality sand"as backfill in our temporary repairs. Through your knowledge of and involvement <br /> with other remediation projects in west Maui,you were able to identify a source of approvable <br /> sand and obtain enough of it to proceed with our project. It would likely have been impossible <br /> for us to proceed with our urgently-needed repairs without the benefit of your local knowledge <br /> and relationships. <br /> Following the temporary repairs in early 2018,we began to investigate possible strategies and <br /> designs for permanently repairing our sinkholes and preventing future erosion beneath our <br />