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Branco. So if I might, I’d like to swear you in. Would you raise your right hand. Do you swear
<br />or affirm to tell the truth now before the Planning Commission?
<br />TESTIFIERS: I do.
<br />WATANABE: Thank you. Okay, I don’t know which one of you wants to start.
<br />J. BRANCO: I’ll start.
<br />WATANABE: You’re going to start. Okay, would you state your name and address.
<br />J. BRANCO: My name is Jack -.
<br />WATANABE: Please speak into the mike.
<br />J. BRANCO: Okay. My name is Jack L. Branco. And I live at, my address is 133
<br />Awa Street. And I am the oldest of our family here and we are neighbors to that proposed half
<br />acre development there. And years ago, we’ve been there all our life, over 50 years. And in
<br />1991 we started to, as we were getting older, my parents got older, it’s my mom and dad back
<br />there, they subdivided the place. And they gave us for $1.00 so we can have a place. And then
<br />we went through the whole process with the Planning Commission at that time, took us about
<br />four years. And we all got, you know, we went through the whole thing that the County
<br />approved. One of the biggest setbacks, there are the waterwells. There are three wells in the
<br />back of our place, very, very close to -. You have to have a radius that comes through our land.
<br />So we were restricted to put certain, you know, houses or whatever it is because you have to be
<br />out of the radius to not contaminate the drinking water. So, anyway, Norman was on that one
<br />and Taka was, this is years ago when they were involved in this here. And we have the
<br />agriculture, we’ve been maintaining the thing. We have pasture land, we have ten heads of cattle
<br />there. We mow our places. Our grasses, we have nine different grasses in there. Our carcasses
<br />that we take to Kulana Foods are graded choice. And we also have mac nuts. But it’s the dying
<br />industry right now, it’s not feasible to pick the nuts. But if it was to pick up again, I mean, we
<br />could pick them. You know what I mean? So it is maintained Ag-3. Everybody has their lots as
<br />full a use as we can do it. You know what I mean? So the neighbors all around us they followed
<br />suit, you know, they got Ag-3, and they gave to their families, and stuff like that. We have a
<br />very good community over there. Everybody takes care of each other. It’s a clean community.
<br />And Roy Sonomura purchased his land from his dad, I guess. He got it next door to us, that’s
<br />where the canal went through, the Waiakea Uka Flood Control.
<br />And there are big trees. When the wind comes we worry. Because north winds, those big
<br />Albesia trees, they’re not very stable. They’re 150 feet tall or higher. And if they break on the
<br />top they fall on the fence. Three of them fell already but, you know, we’re neighborly, we cut
<br />the trees, fix the fence so that we don’t worry if the cattle gets out and a car hits them. And then
<br />what? There’s a, you know, the problem progresses, you know. And now to put a total
<br />development in there, you know, we didn’t have a problem when he went for Ag-3 or Ag-4,
<br />whatever it is. You know, everybody is, we stayed status quo, you know. But now we have a
<br />problem where the infrastructure is not suitable for a subdivision over there. There are all rocks,
<br />and rock piles, and everything. Our place it has -- I have pictures and I’ll be glad to show all you
<br />guys, I took them yesterday -- our fences, our cattle, our nut farm. Everything is all, it’s in very
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