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DeVera, Ashley <br /> From: Victoria Croft <vjcroft@yahoo.com> <br /> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 2:26 PM <br /> To: Planning Internet Mail <br /> Subject: Punalu'u Beach development <br /> Aloha, <br /> Allow me to introduce myself, I am Victoria Croft the coordinator of Malama Pono Punalu'u. We're <br /> the turtle police on Punalu'u Beach! We arrive on the beach at 4:30 when the lifeguards leave, and <br /> we stay till sundown. Our group has been monitoring the beach and collecting data since July of <br /> 2022. <br /> Punalu'u beach is on every website for people looking for black sand and/or turtles. This has equated <br /> to a large number of tourists. <br /> The problems facing the beach today without additional residents and commercial traffic are as <br /> follows. <br /> 1) Parking <br /> 2) Tourism <br /> 3) Hawksbill nesting <br /> 4) Sand removal <br /> 5) Hurricanes <br /> 6) Threat of earthquakes and tsunami <br /> 7) Hawaiian Monk Seal visiting <br /> The first and most major concern is parking. It has been noted by Malama Pono Punalu'u (from <br /> 4:30PM till sundown) that a great number of tourists are coming to the beach to see both the black <br /> sand and the turtles. Tourists will fill both the parking lot next to the pavilions and the additional <br /> parking that is noted on the plans for the restaurant and museum area plus the adjacent parking next <br /> to the lea shack. Parking will then overflow onto the street even though there are no parking signs <br /> posted and boulders blocking the parking space, but people still park there, resulting in parked cars <br /> extending onto and blocking the lane. This overflow hinders traffic flow in both directions and will and <br /> does impact emergency vehicles as well as lifeguards. <br /> THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW! You have to ask yourself; will emergency vehicles get <br /> through in the future with the additional residents and commercial parking? <br />