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SHROPSHIRE: Yes, my name is Steve Shropshire, and I—my mailing address is Post Office
<br />Box 1146, Hilo, Hawai‛i. First of all, I want to say thank you for the opportunity to be here and
<br />for your time and attention. I think Jeff did an excellent job in you know outlining the merits of
<br />the project. You know, as Lori mentioned, I purchased the original, a portion of the property
<br />almost ten years ago, so this has been a decade long project to bring this property to fruition.
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<br />We, we developed a property just Hāmākua, the next, the adjacent property several years ago,
<br />and as part of that development, we acquired the Nīnole Hongwanji Church, and just a few years
<br />ago, made a donation to that church, that church back to the, to the community. We are, we are
<br />vested in this area. We, when we first purchased this, this particular site, we contemplated taking
<br />down the old structures that were there, and after listening to people in the community about the
<br />significance of the Kawahara Store, the gas station there, and the plantation homes that were
<br />there, we decided to spend the time and the energy to restore the homes, and restore the garage,
<br />and the old plantation feeling of the property is something that we intend to preserve. We’re
<br />going to have covenants, CC&R’s in our, in our development that require all the homes be of
<br />plantation style, so when it—we have a, I have a picture here of the original garage and the
<br />original home, and you can see there’s been quite a transformation if you haven’t driven out on
<br />the highway and taken a look, I invite you to do but, so, I think what we’ve demonstrated is that
<br />we have a sensitivity for the community, and that we are, you know, intending to do the right
<br />thing here. It’s, it is a beautiful site and, thus far we, you know, we’ve gone through all the steps
<br />to get the proper permits, you know. The first permit was the permit to take down all the
<br />invasive trees. We’ve opened up the scenic views along the highway. And because of the
<br />differential in grade from the highway to the, to the, you know to where the house sites are, I
<br />think that, that’s going to be a benefit to this project because before we started, before we started
<br />this, it was a wall of ironwoods and other invasive trees and now we’ve opened up the views, and
<br />so, that’s just another example of I think how this project will win.
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<br />It was also, you know, it was littered with a lot of old cars and debris. We spent, we spent weeks
<br />hauling that, all those materials to the dump. So, we’ve done a lot of cleanup on the site already.
<br />And, in terms of you know, as Lori said, we you know we purchased this property with the
<br />existing zoning, and we, we believe that the plan that we’ve put forth, you know, conforms with
<br />the, not only the General Plan, but also the community development plan, some of the values that
<br />have, that have been coming forth on that in terms of you know locating existing communities
<br />where there, you know, existing town centers like Nīnole where the affordable housing
<br />component. We did decide to restore the two homes there because we believe they’re gonna be,
<br />you know, perfectly suited for you know small—to helping families.
<br />
<br />The store was, was an effort to preserve. The rural character and the, you know, they are listed
<br />as historic sites. We wanted to restore or preserve the historic character of the property, and
<br />that’s why we choose to do that, and we hope to come back to you for a Special Use Permit to do
<br />some kind of a store of some sort there as well.
<br />
<br />Anyway, that’s all I have, and I’m prepared to answer any question you may have. Thank you.
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<br />MIYASATO: Thank you. Commissioners, any questions for the Applicant?
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