2024-03-05 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Koohan Paik-Mander Opposition Testimony

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From: Koohan Paik-Mander To: W PCtesti mono Subject: Testimony re: Punalu'u SMA permit application (PL-SMA-2023-000046) Date: Tuesday, March 5,2024 4:17:33 PM Aloha Chair Lin, Vice Chair Daniele, and Members of the Windward Planning Committee, My name is Koohan Paik-Mander and I am a Hawaii Island resident and taxpayer. I urge you to deny the Special Management Area permit application (Agenda Item #3, PL-SMA-2023-000046) that will build a luxury resort development at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. As our climate crisis inevitably worsens, it is critical that our precious natural and cultural resources are managed as a public trust resource, as envisioned in our Hawai'i State Constitution, and as carefully contemplated with critical input from key community stakeholders in the Ka'u Community Development Plan. Additionally, the SMA applicant proposes a development that caters to tourists at the expense of our own - our own people who are already housing insecure, job insecure, and our natural and cultural resources. The lack of planning with the prematurely proposed SMA application for a development that will only exacerbate the erosion of our natural and cultural resources undermines the Ka'u Community Development Plan and does not facilitate the county fulfilling its affirmative duty to protect nearshore marine waters. Over 100 cultural sites, including burials and heiau, have been destroyed since efforts to develop Punalu'u began 50 years ago. Yet there is still no burial treatment plan, no preservation plan, and no plan for access for lineal descendants. Further, in what was once a heavily populated area, it is likely there are unknown burial sites that will be inadvertently discovered and damaged should the project be allowed to proceed. These plans should be completed prior to approval of the SMA permit application. Additional consultation with lineal and cultural descendents and sweeps of the project area should be completed as well. The county has an affirmative duty to protect these cultural resources. Approval of the SMA permit at this time would violate that obligation. The Planning Department's recommendations do not adequately mitigate negative impacts. Punalu'u has unique ecological diversity. It is home to rare and endangered native animals, including hawksbill sea turtles, green sea turtles, Hawaiian monk seals, native bees and orange-black damselflies. Punalu'u's shores are vital nesting grounds for sea turtles. The SMA permit application and Planning Department recommendations do not sufficiently address negative impacts to threatened and endangered species. The current wastewater treatment plant is outdated at 50 years old. The treatment