2015-01-08 Hearing Transcript-Steven Schropshire _SMA 14-058_

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behalf of the ancestors and the community that you will give sole full consideration to the legacy you will pass on to your son. Will it be money, property with big homes, gated white communities, a legacy of distrust and distain by the local community? You get ten lots, if this all passes. And we ask that you can also dedicate four lots for local, i.e. born and raised in Hawai‛i. People who can own their own houses and their land for no more that a $135,000. Within this community of ten people, ten households, excuse me, all who buy and live there. They will know that they are building a vision for the Hāmākua Coast. A vision for Hawai‛i, a starter. Build and perpetuate a vision for other big developers, for your son to continue. Something he and his children will be honored to be part of and will dedicate their lives and will be celebrated in oli and chants, seven generations from today, that you come—were committed to and dedicated at least with one small community, to create a diversified community reflective of our special Hawai‛i. Mahalo. MIYASATO: Thank you. Any questions, Commissioners? Ms. Nishimoto. NISHIMOTO, I.: My name is Ingrid Nishimoto, and I live at about the 19.3 mile marker in Nīnole. Right after the last hearing in December, there was an article in the newspaper entitled, “Home Prices on the Rise.” The jump in prices being driven by fewer homes available at lower prices and more sales in the higher ranges. The community of Hakalau was told that the development across from their post office would be affordable housing. It didn’t turn out that way, and there is no guarantee that homes built in Nīnole will also be affordable. Today is about an application at the 19 mile marker. Another building by the 20 mile marker has been in the news for the past ten months--the $26 million dollar home. The land had been a mac nut orchard. And, the first building application was for a sod farm. The second application was for a turf farm with a home to live down on the farm. Ten months ago, we found out what it really was—a home for the ultra rich, including the largest private swimming pool in the world and 2, and 3 helipads. It went up for auction and was bought for $5.75 million. Five months later, the buyers from Missouri put it back on the market, and this time, they’re asking for $10 million. Doesn’t this sound like speculation? What, where is that sod farm? Are the owners paying taxes for a piece of Ag land or for a home of the ultra rich? There is also the issue of permit violations like for those three helipads. Applying the County schedule of escalating fines for violations to the rules, it would have been a fine of over a $150,000. However, the developer was somehow able to get the fine down to $2,370, 1-1/2 percent of the original fine. How would it work out for me if I got stopped for not wearing a seat belt? Could I tell the police officer, oh my arthritis is really bothering me today. I don’t have the strength to click it. Could I talk my ticket down from $102 to a $1.53? At the 19 mile marker after trees were cut, there was bulldozing. And later in November, when the first hearing on this application was postponed, the orange fencing went up around Election Day, and then around Veterans Day, the black silt barrier was installed. Both were after the fact of the bulldozing. Is this a permit violation? Especially with the Special Management Area. The Hāmākua Coast is known by scientists to be an important habitat for the endangered juvenile hawksbill turtles. We may not be able to see the endangered turtles or the opihi from the highway, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. 5 EXHIBIT A