2017-04-17 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case

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change that. We need to bring that back in honesty for what Princess Pauahi Bishop asked for that Trust to be set up by. Her husband, he was bought of the provisional government. We know that today. And we know that the Trust needs to straighten themselves up or ship out. We need some honest people in that Trust to operate it. Now, these lands that are sold to this particular corporation to build this proposal, they are going to desecrate an area that is historical. There are more than 800 historical sites in that particular area. Archaeologist today hired by where? Not from here. We don’t have archaeologists that know anything about Hawaiian properties, cultural properties. So what I’m saying today, Hearings Officer, with all due respect, listen to the people, especially the kupuna, Uncle Mitchell. He is one of the, he walked in here and he’s ready to walk out. It’s a blessing that he came, he was able to testify. And I acknowledge that. Mahalo for letting him testify. Inadvertent finds, do you understand what is inadvertent finds? \[CRUDELE: I believe so.\] Thank you. When we understand what is inadvertent finds, how can we proceed with a project like this, knowing there’s over 800 cultural properties in that site? Kamehameha Investment – look at Keauhou Beach Hotel, Kona Lagoon, those were very significant historical areas – failed; corporations buy, corporations buy, fail, fail. Now look at it. Now they are trying to restore cultural properties there? Come on. Let’s think good about Kona; without these cultural properties Kona is not Kona. We need to protect these areas. I don’t know how much further I can go with this, but I can keep going. And I don’t want to take too much time and I promised to do my best. But this is the truth. I’m not speaking out of turn or I’m not trying to make false statements. This is the truth: Kamehameha Investment, Kamehameha Bishop Estates, come on, it’s a Trust for the people of Hawai‘i. Kānaka maoli ko pae ‘āina. A historical property. Thank you for your time. Mahalo. JANICE PALMA-GLENNIE: My name is Janice Palma-Glennie and I’m here representing the Surfrider Foundation’s Kona Kai Ea Chapter. I’m speaking today on behalf of them. We strongly support the McMichael ‘Ohana in their quest to represent the public in this process and their goal stopping this development in this location as it is currently configured. We defer to cultural practitioners and kānaka maoli to understand and present the deeper issues, which make this compelling case. Therefore, I’m going to speak to my own experience as a person who has been almost four decades living near and/or accessing the coastline there. It doesn’t take a study to realize that in many aspects this area is at peak carrying capacity. If protecting the quality of life of residents, a healthy, natural environment, intact cultural resources, and a viable and sustainable economy are what this body and other County decision makers are committed to, they’ll deny the subdivision approval of the land in question until, and if, the problems that are already exist due to over-development and lack of infrastructure in the area are addressed, which we believe in actuality cannot be done since sandy accessible coastal areas are already insufficient to handle the stress upon them. As a person who swam or surfed most days at Kahalu‘u two and three decades ago, I can tell you that when my mother visits and stays on Ali‘i Drive is the only time I spend any concentrated time in that crowded area these days, even though I live in the same ahupua‘a. Kahalu‘u Park is pretty much inaccessible due to lack of parking, beach space and space in the water. Often there are lines of people getting in and out of the water, making it feel more like New York’s Coney Island than Hawai‘i. Ditto for La‘aloa or White Sands Beach, both are overloaded and beyond capacity during winter months when tourist season 4 2017-04-17 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case