2007-03-02 TBILLS (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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In 1977 in Kona there was a study done by the State. And they were to try to determine the carrying capacity for South Kohala, North and South Kona, and to consider other probable kind of industries that would impact the region, and more so with the tourism growth and more so with the fact that they were building the Queen Kaahumanu Highway. And once that had finished, it would attract a lot of demand for development. The study would have helped the decision makers to determine when there is an overload in infrastructure. And then sensing that or foreseeing the overload then there were actions that they could take to help address the anticipated growth. But that has never happened. Probably the study was completed, but I dont think it went any further than that. And if that was done at that time it would have been, I think, more helpful for decision makers to make more sound decisions. My question is does the County have a planning and growth management policy? YUEN:Well,itsintheGeneralPlanbasically.Iwouldsay,youknow, the land use system works more by controlling where development occurs rather than by how much development occurs. DOMINGO:Thats why I asked the question. YUEN:The County has added typically, actually very consistently for the last three decades, added about 29,000 people a decade. About 2/3 of the population growth of the County every decade has been from people moving into the island, and about 1/3 from the excess of births over deaths. Theres also people who move out but you have net inmigration to the County. You dont have an ultimate growth control in a sense of having a quota on the number of people who get to move to the island. Theres freedom of movement in the United States; and many people have chosen to move to the island for reasons, whether its clean air, clean water, nice place to live, all those kinds of reasons. Now that being said, there are land use decisions that can affect the overall level of growth. For example, the basic decisions to make the Kona coast the big resort area, to make the South Kohala and North Kona coasts big resort areas were made in the sixties, and then followed-up on by the State in making the Queen Kaahumanu Highway and opening the Kona Airport. All of these things lead to resort hotels being produced on the Kona coast but then needed employment and attracted people to the area. You know definitely they spurred growth, and theyre what I call growth-generating decisions. Some kinds of residential subdivisions, lets take Hokulia, theres a growth generating development in the sense that the people who are going in there would not necessarily be moving to the island or buying lots on the island if they werent one acre lots around a golf course done by a well-known developer. So you can make decisions that consciously generate growth. If I were to say, you know, what is my policy, Im not a pro-growth person. Im a person that wants to see the quality of life preserved on the island. I think that that growth is a big challenge for that. And so I generally, particularly in the employment situation that 6EXHIBIT D