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they wanted to see what happened with our bill and what we did to tweak it, and they would then
<br />take whatever we did, and look and see whether it fit in their counties. The concern is, though, that
<br />if the counties don’t move and do some type of legislation, then what instead will happen is, similar
<br />to ag structures, that you will then have the State Legislature act and put something in that does not
<br />require a county ordinance, and then it will just be State Law that regulates it. And so -.
<br />
<br />DEFRANCO: I guess some of my concern would be also around retail, you know, a little bit, you
<br />know, since we have nothing, no way to enforce any, you know, to be there, to have eyes
<br />everywhere, of course, so now you are going to open up a retail, you know. I was a wholesale plant
<br />nursery for a long time in South Kona, and I had to get a retail store in town to sell my goods. My
<br />concern is is that you are going to allow retail, direct retail sales now even for ag goods or plants or,
<br />you know, it just, I don’t know if it’s all been thought through enough for the small roads,
<br />infrastructures, the wastewater management. And I’m sure that you’ve thought through it much
<br />more than I have, so I’m a bit catching up, I’m sorry.
<br />
<br />LEITHEAD TODD: Would you, I mean, I’m not going to recommend it at the Planning
<br />Commission level, but would you recommend that the, perhaps, the Council before acting on the
<br />bill when it gets back up to them, try to set up meetings, not necessarily a public hearing, but you’ve
<br />got farm organizations in different parts of the island, you’ve got the Department of Ag, and try to
<br />set up maybe a working group to work on the bill and address some of that?
<br />
<br />DEFRANCO: I think that would be a good idea, because I think the idea behind the bill is
<br />important to people, yeah. And I’d like to be part of the working group.
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: Thank you very much. If you’ll step back, there are several other people who have signed
<br />up to testify. Thank you. The next testifier, I think, is Janice Palma Glennie.
<br />
<br />PALMA GLENNIE: That’s correct. Thank you. Am I, can you hear me?
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: You are on.
<br />
<br />PALMA GLENNIE: Thank you. I would, before I start, I was wondering if I could have a copy of
<br />the testimony that you had from Cory Harden? If I could see that while I’m -. Thank you very
<br />much.
<br />
<br />Aloha, Commissioners, I’ve been – thank you – I’ve been attending many meetings over the last
<br />three years regarding this issue. It’s impossible to, my husband and I have lived on Ag land,
<br />pursuing agricultural related activities in Kona for over 25 years. Not to sound too harsh, but it is
<br />offensive that Bill 266, after over two years of public input, was remanded to this body as Bill 25,
<br />as it is now nebulous, unenforceable. Planning Department generated bill that was stripped of
<br />30-plus public generated amendments, many of which come from this testimony, and this testimony
<br />that Cory sent was a compilation of comments that had been generated over that time from lots of
<br />people that attended the hearings and, I’m sorry, are not here today. Those 30-plus public generated
<br />amendments were added to protect farmers, Ag lands and residents from the negative effects of ag
<br />tourism. This bill could create higher taxes and land values to where real farming is unattainable,
<br />and also create noisy, less environmentally balanced rural areas where the backbone of our ag
<br />industry lives and raises their keiki.
<br />
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<br />EXHIBIT B
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