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<br />BONK: I would like to speak to why we are doing this. My mother is applying for this application
<br />to give her son, Seizen Bonk, the use of the land that’s in front of her, or her house, basically, which
<br />has been farmed by my brother, both my brothers for over 30 years. My brother, Seizen, lives on
<br />the same road; he has the lot directly across from my mother’s house, and has a house there. So he
<br />is one of the only, of two produce farmers that goes to the farmers market, which is in the Hawaiian
<br />Homes parcel right next door. And he leases about 20 acres of land in the lighter green area down
<br />here from a family for his Kozen Farms. My brother has been a truck farmer for over, oh, for four
<br />decades now. And he tried to get a lease land in Waimea and then couldn’t get it in the 70s, so he
<br />went to Moloka‘i and farmed State land. And about, a little over this past decade, he moved back to
<br />farm in Waimea. So he has been farming pretty consistent with his wife. But my mom wants to
<br />make sure that he has the land in perpetuity so that he can do seedlings; it’s kind of a small parcel to
<br />actually do larger truck farming. So he wants to do seedlings and packing, and get it out of his
<br />garage, which is right across the street, so that he can come home from the farm and pack for the
<br />farmers market and do all his like smaller work around closer to his house. He is getting a little
<br />older and that would be a lot easier for him. And he wants to start training his oldest son to farm
<br />with him, and his name is Noah, and so he’s been farming with him since he was a kid. But he
<br />needs more room in his house. So that’s why my mom decided to subdivide.
<br />
<br />NELSON: Thank you. Commissioners, any questions?
<br />
<br />LEITHEAD TODD: In the interest of full disclosure, just as Ms. Giffin mentioned, Seizen Bonk,
<br />who would be the recipient of the new parcel that’s created that has the little shed on it, is my high
<br />school classmate. And I’m very familiar with his farming activities since I’ve gone to buy squash
<br />and other stuff at the farmers market from him, and remember when he was growing sweet potato
<br />on Moloka‘i, because Keiko ended up giving away sweet potato when she went door to door. But,
<br />you know, I’ve known the family for a very long time. He is one of the few classmates I know
<br />who’s still farming and, you know, didn’t leave farming to go and seek other work because it’s a
<br />hard life. I’ve been to the house where he does do the packing, and, you know, he chose, he could
<br />make more money working construction, but he is committed to agriculture.
<br />
<br />And it’s, when we reviewed this, I tried to, you know, make sure that I wasn’t reviewing it in terms
<br />of people I knew but in terms of the CDP. And we did send it out for comment, you know, from
<br />other agencies and the Waimea community, and we felt that it was consistent with the CDP. And
<br />one of the critical issues in making our recommendation is although it’s zoned Ag-40, this is not a
<br />40-acre lot; this is a one-acre lot. And if I remember the history of the lot correctly, during the
<br />World War II, this was, one of the reasons these are smaller lots is, this was barracks for nurses.
<br />And, in fact, Fumie’s home utilized the existing structures and incorporated the nurses’ barracks
<br />into the home that she built there. Currently, her other son lives with her. And, you know, this has
<br />kind of been a family compound.
<br />
<br />But the bottom line is when we did review it, we reviewed it in terms of consistency with the
<br />General Plan. You noticed that the General Plan is Low Density Urban. You noticed the
<br />Community Development Plan actually has this for some urban development. Rural is consistent
<br />with the neighbors in this area. And you can see from this aerial photo; this is not a 40-acre lot that,
<br />you know, is surrounded by other 40-acre lots. It’s a small lot. And directly in that area you see
<br />other homes in the area. So it’s very consistent with what is in this area. And if you noticed, just
<br />below Seizen’s lot, Seizen has the two little houses directly across from his mother, there is another
<br />home directly down there. So this is very consistent with this small area. And so it kind of met all
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<br />EXHIBIT A
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