2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case

Home

planned across the street from Kahalu‘u Beach, I was just stunned at how horrible that idea was. So that’s why I’m here today, to support everyone who’s spoken before me. And, just thank you for letting me speak. RON HERREMA: Hello. Thank you. Aloha, my name is Ron Herrema. Our home is at 78-6654 Ali‘i Drive right on Kahalu‘u. Let me first say I’m not anti-development and growth; sometimes it’s needed and it’s important to do. However, in this particular development I think it would be a very, very poor idea to move forward with it. There has been a lot of great testimony and points that have been brought up. Not only to reiterate all those, my biggest, one of my largest challenges is there is simply naught the infrastructure there to be able to support that. You’ve heard some specific statistics on why that is. Since the bypass road has opened up, we have experienced a significant increase in traffic, and to add in another 300 units, I would argue that you probably are looking at close to a thousand trips per day, with the residents coming in and out and support staff. And to do it at that particular area would be so problematic, increase safety issues, which there already are just because of the bypass road. And once you move forward with a development like that, as someone else said, you can’t reverse it. And we’ve all seen places that once things are changed, you can’t go back. And so, I am opposed to this. Again, I’m not anti-development; I just think a development of this magnitude and in that particular area would be a big, big mistake for many reasons. Thank you. PAMELA HERREMA: Aloha. Good morning. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Ron and I own a property basically right across the street from where the entrance is proposed, entrance and exit. And I’m kind of shocked that anyone would even consider putting in entrance and exit off of Ali‘i where there is a one-lane road going to and from. There is nowhere that you can increase the size of that road, so there will be a lot of stoppage, go-age, not go-age, a lot of stopped, just a lot of stopped in front of that area. I’m with Ron; I’m not anti-development. I think sometimes it’s good and positive and helps economy and, you know, sometimes it’s a great thing to do. We are very fortunate that we are able to live here. And we are very thankful and we love it and we want to preserve as much as we can in all of the island and especially in our area. This specific going in and out off of Ali‘i just seems incredibly destructive, unsafe. There is no infrastructure for it. There is no stop light. You can’t widen the road. You can’t go back and forth. I know there was a discussion that since there was the hotel a little further down, well, there’s less cars going in and out because of the hotel; that’s further down the road, there is more, it’s wider down there, there is more, there is a quicker response to go up the mountain, if you need to. Specifically where they are talking about putting in the entrance and exit, it would be disastrous to everything that’s there. I wouldn’t want a timeshare or condo there where I had to come in and out of a one-lane area going in and out. So, that is specific. I, I though the woman who spoke on all of these statistics about the infrastructure and this being detrimental to the area, everyone who’s spoken before you, has done a very good job, and I hope that you will take this very seriously. I definitely oppose the entrance and exit going off of Ali‘i, and I don’t see where else you’ll be able to do it. SHARON WILLEFORD: \[CRUDELE: I’d ask you to keep it to three minutes, okay, because you spoke last week.\] Yes, I did. I was the first person to testify on the first day and many people were not present. I’m grateful to have an opportunity again to share. I have been in the area for 40 years and a public school third-grade teacher serving all of the children from all over the world. I was fortunate to raise my son in the area. We lived in a condo at Surf and Racquet that was an 18 2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case