2021-06-14 Applicant Addressing Concerns

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development in the area. The project will connect to the County sewer system and will control and properly dispose of any site generated runoff: Thus,there should be no long-term effects to coastal water quality due to the proposed project. Potential short-term impacts to water quality will be addressed by construction industry standard Best Management.Practices to control runoff from the subject property and will be detailed in the building permitting package. Tsunami 1 Coastal Hazards: Some public testimony has expressed concern regarding evacuation during a possible tsunami. This is an understandable concern and something that residents and visitors should be made aware of. Perhaps part of the issue lies in the overreliance on vehicles and roads for tsunami evacuation. A recent study entitled Pedestrian evacuation modeling to reduce vehicle use for distant tsunami evacuations in Hawai'i (Wood et al., 2019) evaluated tsunami evacuation times for areas on Oahu and concluded "Recommended travel mode,could vary depending on evacuation zone. Pedestrian evacuations at a reasonable speed and within a reasonable,amount of'time are possible for 98%of'the residents in the standard evacuation zone, but only 76%of those in the extreme evacuation zone. This suggests effective education could reduce traffic issues for a standard evacuation, but vehicle use is likely in certain areas during an extreme evacuation." The Draft Hawaii County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan (May 2020) evaluated the potential impacts of tsunamis on Hawai'i County. The Risk Assessment Results indicate that for North Kona a low percentage of the population (4.47%or 1,967) is exposed to tsunami hazard with a love probability factor(see attached). However, the issue of tsunami evacuation is much larger than this permit application and will require probabilistic studies encompassing Ali'i Drive and education of the public regarding the proper response to tsunami watches and warnings. Further, the potential impact from the proposed six-unit development on tsunami evacuation is not anticipated to be significant. Scenic )Resources & Height: One of the main concerns that was expressed in the opposing testimony related to design of the building. Much of the testimony expressed that the modern aesthetics of the proposed building did not conform to the"feel"of the surrounding neighborhood. Please review the attached rendering of a new aesthetic that we feel conforms more to the existing development in the area. We have also heard concerns over the height of the structure. The proposed plans conform to the height restrictions of the Hawaii County Zoning Code. Also, several other comparably high, multi-story condos exist on Ali'i Drive within a half mile distance of the subject property. These include the Kona by the Sea, Kona Bali Kai, Banyan"Free and Hale Pohaku condominium complexes. Identified scenic resources will not be impacted by the proposed project as detailed in the application package. and Planning Department Recommendation Report. Further, views toward the shoreline from Ali'i Drive are already blocked 1?\ the condominium located makai of the proposed project site.