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What you see over there is a map. You can see in the dark area, that’s the subject property. The
<br />lighter green area is really within 1,000 feet of the surrounding property owners, although the
<br />requirement for notification is only 500 feet?
<br />Who is the community again? The community when they first heard about it they were
<br />obviously kind of concerned after attending one or two of the community meetings. So they
<br />organized then themselves and they had a petition. That was a petition, I think, a copy of which
<br />you already have. Well, the survey results of the commu -, I kind of like updated that. The
<br />number of lots within the Pacific Plantation is not 76 but in fact it is 106. And of the 106 there
<br />were 90 who were opposed, so essentially 85 percent within the Pacific Plantation Subdivision
<br />were opposed. As far as the surrounding property owner list included in the application, you
<br />know, they filed, you know, who your surrounding property owners were within 500 feet. I
<br />counted 170; but this excludes all government land and roadway parcels. Of these 116 or 68
<br />percent were opposed, 54 or 31 percent basically took no position for or they were not contacted.
<br />Many of them were vacant land or absentee owners. I think that as far as the numbers, others
<br />will testify that it has subsequently been updated by additional names.
<br />The next, what is the community not against? Definitely as you’ve heard many times, the
<br />community is not against the Connections Charter School, especially its students. They’re not
<br />against the school or any educational facility. Many in the community are or were educators or
<br />other professionals who understand and support the value of education.
<br />Now what are the concerns or issues? Basically two things. One is that the land use entitlement
<br />process, it should be a State Land Use Boundary Amendment instead of a Special Permit given
<br />the magnitude of impacts. And, secondly, the location is not appropriate given its adverse
<br />impacts to the neighboring community, and the potential availability of alternative sites.
<br />In terms of the land use entitlement process, schools, especially the K-12, are situated within the
<br />State Land Use Urban and not Agricultural District. The recently constructed schools within the
<br />last 20 years, whether it’s Kealakehe, Keaau, Kamehameha School, they’re all in the SLU Urban
<br />District. As a matter of fact, Kamehameha School in Keaau also came in for a State Land Use
<br />Boundary Amendment.
<br />We’re also saying that the special permits may be appropriate for smaller facilities like a pre-
<br />school, nurseries, or single level schools (such as elementary only), but not for a 70-acre, 400
<br />student, K-12 campus.
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<br />What’s the special permit criteria? One is it has got to be an unusualand reasonable useof land
<br />in the Agricultural District. Secondly it has got to promote the effectiveness and objectives of
<br />the SLU Laws and Regulations. In terms of the special permit criteria, the Department’s
<br />rationale is that, first of all, it has a poor soil condition, therefore, not suited for agricultural
<br />activities. Well, this is what the community is saying – Well, you know, in spite of the soil
<br />classification, the site has other agricultural potential: Be it for forestry, citrus, certain
<br />floricultural crops. You have hydroponics which are, that’s not necessarily soil based, and even
<br />has Open space value.
<br /> 15 ATTACHMENT C
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