2024-05-07 Kawehi & Debra Ryder S

Home

needs to function that goes beyond water and sewage, which includes fire protection services, beach maintenance, and upkeep of its roads and property. Some opponents at the March 7 SMA public hearing and the petition for a contested case proceeding filed by Colony One cited old infrastructure as a reason to oppose the project. We find this contradictory. Since Black Sand Beach LLC acquired the project site four years ago, it has spent over $600,000 just to maintain the water and sewer system. If the revitalization plan is denied, who will continue to provide services and manage these lands that are enjoyed by so many? Since the departure of the sugar plantation company, many young people in Ka' have left due to a lack of job opportunities, and the local population has been decreasing. Punalu`u is the only project that can create good local job opportunities, both by the project itself and the independent businesses that can rise up to support the project. We hope that our children can stay and work here. We don't want parents to have to drive 3-4 hours on daily roundtrips to Hilo and Kona for work, losing precious time with their families and children. We wish to celebrate weddings, birthdays, or graduation ceremonies within our community instead of traveling to Hilo and Kona. We hope that even if people from Ka'u decide to leave, when they return to Ka`u, there will be a place for them to gather and live. We need this small limited Punalu`u development. We need a landowner like Black Sands Beach LLC who we can work with and someone who will be an important part of our community. If we lose this landowner, we don't know if Punalu`u will have anyone willing to take care of this community resource, or if the Ka'u community will have any other chance to improve its employment opportunities and quality of life. Meanwhile, we have the answers to many of questions asked by the community: • Q: The proposed development will not protect the turtles and the coastline. • A: The landowner wholeheartedly agrees to work with the community on the joint management of the coastline and protection of turtles and other important coastal resources. There will not be any development along our precious coastline. • Q: Punalu`u is a culturally and historically significant area. • A: The landowner agrees that Punalu`u is a sacred place with cultural and historical significance, many of which have been mapped for protection, and will work with the local Kupuna of Punalu`u and the broader community to determine the appropriate way to continue and maintain protection of these local sites. A Cultural Impact Assessment and Archaeological Inventory Survey has already been completed that will be a valuable resource guide for this effort. • Q: What has been done to the deteriorating conditions of the property over the past 30 years, posing numerous safety hazards? • A: Our local community has asked the landowner plans to renovate the former Punalu`u Restaurant area into a community activity center, open fully to the community as a cultural and information center. Unfortunately, the landowner inherited a property nearly four years ago, that was deteriorated from decades of neglect. The buildings and the landscaping require constant work to control the evasive growth and weathering. They are working to manage the ill effects of decades of neglect and lack of effective onsite management. Trash had been improperly dumped throughout the property and 2