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From: K Hanen <br /> To: WPCtestimony <br /> Subject: Testimony re: Punalu'u SMA(PL-SMA-2023-000046) <br /> Date: Tuesday, March 5,2024 1:40:28 PM <br /> Aloha Chair Lin, Vice Chair Daniele, and Members of the Windward <br /> Planning Committee, <br /> My name is Kai L. Hansen and I urge you to deny the Special Management <br /> Area permit application (Agenda Item #3, PL-SMA-2023-000046) that will <br /> build a luxury resort development at Punalu`u Black Sand Beach. <br /> As our climate crisis inevitably worsens, it is critical that our precious natural <br /> and cultural resources are managed as a public trust resource, as <br /> envisioned in our Hawaii State Constitution, and as carefully contemplated <br /> with critical input from key community stakeholders in the Ka`u Community <br /> Development Plan. <br /> Additionally, the SMA applicant proposes a development that caters to <br /> tourists at the expense of our own - our own people who are already <br /> housing insecure,job insecure, and our natural and cultural resources. The <br /> lack of planning with the prematurely proposed SMA application for a <br /> development that will only exacerbate the erosion of our natural and cultural <br /> resources undermines the Ka`u Community Development Plan and does not <br /> facilitate the county fulfilling its affirmative duty to protect nearshore marine <br /> waters. <br /> 1. Over 100 cultural sites, including burials and heiau, have been destroyed since efforts to <br /> develop Punalu'u began 50 years ago. Yet there is still no burial treatment plan, no <br /> preservation plan, and no plan for access for lineal descendants. Further, in what was once a <br /> heavily populated area, it is likely there are unknown burial sites that will be inadvertently <br /> discovered and damaged should the project be allowed to proceed. These plans should be <br /> completed prior to approval of the SMA permit application. Additional consultation with lineal <br /> and cultural descendents and sweeps of the project area should be completed as well. The <br /> county has an affirmative duty to protect these cultural resources. Approval of the SMA permit <br /> at this time would violate that obligation. The Planning Department's recommendations do not <br /> adequately mitigate negative impacts. <br /> 1 . Punalu`u has unique ecological diversity. It is home to rare and <br /> endangered native animals, including hawksbill sea turtles, green sea <br />