MIN RDC 2011-10-11 PH-PAHOA.tif - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC CHR. SIRACUSA: Please speak close to the microphone. LEILANI BRONSON (At this time Leilani Bronson came forward to address members of the Commission.) MS. BRONSON: Thank you. My name is Leilani Bronson, and I would like to say a personal aloha to my friend, Jeffrey Melrose. It has been 45 years, I'm sure. Thank you for this time, madam Chair. I only have one point, having reviewed very quickly some of the plans that have come forward. I would like to make a very strong and emphatic statement that Hawaiian Paradise Park Subdivision, which you know is one of the oldest, substandard and second largest in the nation, should remain intact under all circumstances. We are comprised of 8,835 lots; we cover about twelve square miles. We have about five miles of road frontage on the State Highway. Thank you. CHR. SIRACUSA: Our next testifier is James Weatherford, also representing himself. JAMES WEATHERFORD (At this time James Weatherford came forward to address members of the Commission.) MR. WEATHERFORD: Thank you very much. My testimony is very parallel to my written testimony. I want to share a few things that I learned in my own experience using the online software. Just three points, if you will; One, is I do believe a logical district can be created around each of the two major commercial districts on the island, downtown Hilo and Kailua -Kona Village, the most densely populated places. Two, there are logical council district boundaries to be created at the Hilo /Hamakua boundary, the Puna /Ka`u boundary, and the Kona /Kohala boundary, as one of the commissioners early on in the process suggested these original judicial districts offer a logical course. The third point is the entirety of Ka`u and the entirety of South Kona combined together do make a sufficient and logical council district. Now, regarding my own community, the entirety of Hawaiian Paradise Park must be kept together in a single council district. It is well known that the population of Puna has grown. According to the 2010 census, Hawaiian Paradise Park has led that growth with approximately two - thirds of the 8,800 lots existing, only two - thirds of those 8,800 have been built on. This is 25% of the Puna population and this subdivision is poised to continue to grow more rapidly than the rest of them. Many of the maps have left off two smaller parts of Hawaiian Paradise Park. They have left off several places on the Hilo side of Shower Drive, and on the mauka side of Highway 130. At least one map, originally, cut the community in half. Census blocks are configured such that the entirety of Hawaiian Paradise Park can be kept together in a single council district. Here is the real point; dividing any part of Hawaiian Paradise Park into separate council districts, in my opinion, violates Chapter 36 of the Hawaii County Code, which requires keeping together a community of common interest. Hawaiian Paradise Park is an incorporated community, having exact boundaries and there are owner /members who share common interests that include road maintenance, neighborhood security, common ownership of real property and indeed, bond indebtedness. The fringes of communities with less exact boundaries allow flexibility to modify 3