2024-03-05 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Deborah Ward Opposition Testimony

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WPCtestimony(D-hawaiicounty.gov March 3, 2024 Aloha, Commission members, My name is Deborah Ward. I live in Mountain View, and I love to spend time enjoying rural areas to the south, including Punalu'u. I have attended several meetings over the years regarding multiple failed attempts to build a resort development in this historic and treasured enclave. C Brewer tried, Sea Mountain tried, and here we are again. The old restaurant placed too close to the shoreline, while very pleasant, was destroyed by a tsunami, and now it lies in ruins, a hazard to curious explorers, the anchialine pond, and to the wildlife. It is unsightly, collapsing, and is poisoning the land with lead and arsenic. Promises, promises! The most recent meetings I attended were in 2021 and 2022, with the new landowner, Eva Liu. At each meeting the community expressed the desire to have the derelict buildings and infrastructure repaired or removed. They were told that the repairs would take place (Phase 1) before any new plans were initiated. In 2021 "Mr, Quon )project developer) said one priority that came out of the meetings was to improve what's already there before building anything new. As expressed by many in the community, first start to fix what has been severely neglected over many decades as we start to talk about the future;' he said. Quon said Black Sand Beach, LLC hopes to secure immediately the necessary county approvals to allow for the repair and maintenance of those existing infrastructures and facilities" https:Hbigislandnow.com/2021/12/26/a-vision-for-punaIu'u-black-sand-beach-developer-vows- community-led-project-for-neglected-area/ SMA Minor permit (PL-SMM-2022-000015) issued March 9, 2022, promised repairs to sewer lines, fire hydrants, potable water lines, roadway repair, clearing of vegetation, and repair of irrigation system. Virtually none of the exempt activities in that expiring SMA were actually completed, hence a new SMA application, this time with development requests. Mr Quon reported that there was some restoration of parking away from the beach, the cleaning up of hazards at abandoned buildings, the blocking of parking along the road to the beach, repair of a walking bridge for pedestrians and overall increased landscape management. The promised repair of sewer lines, fire hydrants, potable water lines, and repair of irrigation system has apparently never happened, despite the promises that these would be repaired before any new developments would be proposed. Further, the abandoned restaurant by the pond has continued to deteriorate, creating an attractive nuisance adjacent to the popular beach. If there were building permits issued for the development aspects of the 2022 SMA, we find no evidence of them. We have toured the area in question with Mr Arai, and we did observe vegetation spraying and clearing of the debris in the Aspen Institute building. D Ward Comments 1