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Testimony with concerns about TAR Bill 121 <br /> Aloha Chair Lin and Members of the Windward Planning Commission, <br /> 1.The Hotel Industry as represented by the Kohala Coast Resort Association is trying to portray vacation rentals as <br /> unsafe, proliferating in local neighborhoods, don't pay taxes, do bait-and-switch scams. Of course they mean the "other" <br /> vacation rentals, not the vacation rentals inside the Resorts.The Hotel/Resort industry has embraced the vacation rental <br /> concept very much for their own growth.These condos, villas and Residences tend to be owned by wealthy off-island <br /> owners, with the majority of the profits going offshore and to large corporations. On the other hand, many local families <br /> rely on the income and jobs from their vacation rentals to make a living on this island and to afford their own home. <br /> The report from "alltherooms" submitted as testimony by the Kohala Coast Resort Association has serious flaws which <br /> lead to substantially inflated numbers, please see the detailed analysis at the end of my testimony below. <br /> 2. The TAR bill allows unlimited vacation rentals in resort and commercial zoning and "PD Project Districts".The new <br /> draft General Plan shows large "urban" expansion areas next to existing resorts (see sample map below).There is a <br /> public comment on the draft General Plan map: "(from the document page 37)The Waikoloa area contains the single <br /> largest designation of Urban Expansion Land Use on the entire island. What rationale was used to reach this <br /> determination and how has the existing community been included in reaching this result?" <br /> What are the odds of those "urban" areas turning into affordable housing and communities for local residents versus <br /> multi-million dollar investment homes for off-island owners, with resort amenities and automatic right to be a vacation <br /> rental?Who is reining in the ever-expanding resort industry? Now developers can just build so-called "housing" and <br /> expand transient accommodations next to the resort.The expansion of these already very dense areas seems <br /> problematic, considering the very precious marine ecosystems down stream,the scarcity of water and the already huge <br /> problem of sewage and pollution (see cesspool conversion priority map below, Priority 1 is red). How many tourists can <br /> you possibly concentrate around Hapuna beach for example? Puako? Kawaihae?What is the carrying capacity? How <br /> many golf courses, pools, hot tubs, AC systems, individual inside and outside kitchens and bathrooms can this fragile <br /> ecosystem support? I wish there was a much more comprehensive review of the tourism industry and careful planning <br /> for the future.This is not sustainable. <br /> Public Comments B9 <br /> HawaN Cesspool Prio,Idn on Tool Public Results App Link to Input DaW App <br /> \� 4cemmentahou,ths (fromvhedocumen <br /> ® KV a location VVAIKO OA <br /> Mauna a, . 2) .a,n n ngl� <br /> Ub En 9 - <br /> p L L and <br /> Use on Me entire lsiana- <br /> What rationale was -�I <br /> used to:each tks <br /> PuekaM -_" nstem:�„a:�nad nowlie r <br /> i 1 ng <br /> n�been <br /> � I ded- eachng <br /> ® Maun <br /> r: <br /> /ra <br /> H _.,, <br /> ,.':l.Si".VA,USCSI mTum Ga in$afeG hGeoT h� ses,lnc METVNASA,USGS,EPA,USDA,US ,, - s ee L.y Psri <br /> Purple= Resort zoning <br /> Orange= Urban zoning I <br />