HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I
CONTESTED CASE HEARING
PUBLIC TESTIMONY TRANSCRIPT
MAY 15, 2017
The following public testimony was presented at an advertised contested case hearing on the
application of OCEAN VILLAS AT KAHALU‘U BAY, LLC (SMA 16-063) at 8:27 a.m. in the
West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Council Chambers, Building A, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway,
Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, with Hearings Officer Robert Crudele, Esq. presiding.
PARTIES PRESENT: Stephen Menezes, Esq. (Counsel for Applicant), Christopher Lau
(Applicant’s representative), Paula McMichael (Intervenor), J. Yoshimoto, Esq. (Counsel for the
Planning Director) and Michael Yee (Planning Director)
OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager) and Noriko Sauer (Commission
Secretary)
And approximately 50 people from the public in attendance.
APPLICANT: OCEAN VILLAS AT KAHALU‘U BAY, LLC (SMA 16-063)
Special Management Area (SMA) Use Permit application to allow for the development of a
306-unit multiple family residential project and its related improvements including, but not limited
to, internal utilities and driveways, landscaping, recreational amenities such as swimming pools,
and off-site infrastructural improvements such as sewer system improvements within Ali‘i Drive
and an emergency access/driveway improvements within the proposed Kahului-Keauhou Parkway
right-of-way. The affected properties, consisting of approximately 42.551 acres, is located along
the mauka (east) side of Aliʻi Drive and Kahalu‘u Bay, approximately 1,375 feet north of the Aliʻi
Drive-Makolea Street intersection in Kahalu‘u, North Kona, Hawaiʻi, TMK: 7-8-010:004 and
7-8-014:013.
LILY MAKUAHINE NAMAKAOKAIA HA‘ANIO KONG: Good morning, everyone. Before I
start, I’d like to say a prayer for all of us in Hawaiian, and I will translate in English. My name is
Lily Namakaokaia Ha‘anio, Makuahine, Ha‘anio Kong. I was born and raised in Kona all my life.
I’m 90 years old. I grew up in Keauhou and I also lived in Kahalu‘u with my godparents, Charles
and Lily Kai‘eki. He was the land overseer for Kalākaua, King Kalākaua, and also he escorted
King Kalākaua wherever Kalākaua needed to go. So, anyway, I would like also to ask you to
excuse me because I’m hard of hearing on my right side and my eyes are very weak. My mom
had served on the Committee of Kamehameha Develop\[ment\] Corporation; her name is Mary
Ha‘anio from Keauhou. She was the only one to sue Bishop Estate, because – this is our history,
part of our history – because Bishop Estate, when they dug up my dad and uncle and three of my
brothers, and they was placed in a Primo box, empty Primo box. They had no respect whatsoever
for the iwi-s of the ancestors. And I thank you very much for having me today.
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Let us pray. E lewa kō mākou i kō mau maka e nā mauna, ma laila mai ko kōkua hiki mai, mai ke
Akua ka āina a me ka ʻʻ. I will lift my eyes to the hills where my help comes from; my
help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Thank you very much.
And I thank you for coming to hear, hear us today. Because it’s very important for you to
understand that this Island of Hawai‘i is still young; it’s still erupting and spreading out.
Commonsense will tell you to keep this in mind. Now, you know very well that our freshwater
comes from the mountain, and this is the prayer I just gave. It goes to Lake Waiau and Lake
Waiau’s a‘a – a‘a means to, the veins that runs around the island – distribute to you and me. So,
these are the kind of things that it’s, it’s important to know. Because when God created men, or
He created Earth, rather, first, He made everything on land and in men to create. So, you look at
yourself and you hold your arm this way, and you see your veins running in your body; that’s a‘a.
We dug that, we all die. We dug the water that’s running from Lake Waiau down to the ocean, we
all die. The animals die. The birds die. Everything dies. The trees die. So, this is the kind of
thing I wanted to stress out to you today. And that’s why I oppose to any more development along
the shoreline.
The sewage line being connected – since we are talking about Kahalu‘u, over at the lagoon you
have two big ponds that helped the Hawaiian, the ancestors, do their laundry and also use for
washing the dishes, for home use. But it’s, on the other side, on the west-south side where the
apartments, the homes are, there is a pond there – I can direct you right there, if you want to go
and visit, and it’s a good thing for you to go and see, too. And on the lagoon side where Lagoon
Hotel is, there is one there. Keauhou Beach Hotel where all the palm trees are, there is one.
Kahalu‘u over by the church, there is one. So, these are the water that was serving the village of
Kahalu‘u. Today with the sewage line in, this is what’s cutting the a‘a; it cuts the vein. And it’s
not going into the water, and it’s killing our seaweed, it’s killing our fish, everything is dying. I
went to the beach one day and I see this squid, and it was this color, and it was spread out on a
rock. And I’ve never seen that kind of seaweed \[sic\] before, so I kind of wondered, so I sat there
and I kept watching and watching. Then I see a crab, a crab come underneath where the, in the
pond, to the pond, rather, then I see his a‘a coming up from in the back of the crab. He caught the
crab all right. And I was going to catch the squid, because the hole is right down below on the
side in the pond. And because he just caught his fish, or his dinner, I said go home with it. So,
these are the kind of things that I think of and you should think of, because it is only
commonsense; without the water from our Lake Waiau and all of other mountains, your children,
your mo‘opuna-s will die. I may go pretty soon, too, myself, who knows. Only God knows. So,
I’m with you all. I oppose to this.
Another thing: It will be best for you to date Keauhou Beach Hotel when it was built, Kona
Lagoon when it was built, Kona Surf when it was built, all of the big apartment condos and
everything else. Check the dates when the cesspool lines went in. This is where, along the
shoreline, this is where that line is sitting, in saltwater. And worse yet, the tide is coming in yet.
It’s rising. So all the sewage line will be sitting in saltwater, and that’s what killing everything
else along the shoreline. And if I were you, you take an inventory on that, because this is very
important. Everything is dying. I’m disappointed to see Kahalu‘u Beach Park. There is no more
sand. Waikua‘a‘ala is empty. And that pond was just as big as this. And they opened up an outlet
to let the water out from the pond, and that’s a no-no. Because that’s where Jon Hall made his
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first movie, Jon, the Drums of Hawai‘i, and I was a little girl at that time. So, there are a lot of
interesting historic sites and the Kalākaua house. I’m still working with Bishop Estate; I teach
Kamehameha Summer School’s program for Keauhou and Kahalu‘u. I’ve been on Bishop Estate
when they first had Kamehameha Development Corporation, and then they changed that
Kamehameha Investment Corporation, so I’ve been sitting on this committee for 53 years. So,
I’m still fighting Kamehameha School, and I’ll fight you, too. So, these are the kind of things that
I want you to wake up with. Check it out. Where the joint is, there is leak. Where there is rust, it
breaks. So, that’s the only thing I can think of, because the saltwater is still rising. And like I told
the Trustee, before you do anything, develop anything, fix Keauhou Beach. I was the one that had
them break Keauhou Beach Hotel down, is because underneath of that Keauhou Beach Hotel is all
rusting. Those irons, cement has chemical in it, and it kills slowly. So now they are getting ready
to tear it down. But, you know, when you wait until late, everything is already done. The ‘ōpelu,
which spawns in Kahalu‘u on the inner part of the seawall, can come in no more. The shiny ‘ōpae,
shrimp, the little, little shrimp, that’s where they spawn, and it used to be, I mean it’s so easy to
catch the shrimp those times, but there is none today. The seaweed, I mean, the sea urchin, that is
the same way. It’s all disappearing. The wana – I had dived last year where George Henders
lived – is crunchy and is not good. So, anyway, thank you for having me here today. And please
check it out. You all have to get off your fanny and check everything out, because, if you don’t
want to take my word for it, check with Bishop Estate on Keauhou Beach. When they had to
change the twelve-inch – now, that sewage line is only twelve-inch big, so you can see all the
homes and condos and all this building to go through a twelve-inch pipe, it’s going to break some
place, because it’s overloaded. So, take it all, take it a, take your time on thinking of any, allowing
any more development. I’m stopping one more, a new one that’s coming up above Bayview,
Bishop Estate. So, this is a kind of thing I do on the, and if you’d all speak out, or even if you
speak out, sometimes they’re deaf. But anyway, thank you very much.
KEAWEMAUHILI NAVAS-LOA: Welina mai me ke aloha, mai ka ua kani lehua o Hilo a hiki
no i ka welina o Kona, ʻo au ʻo Keawemauhili Navas-Loa, he hanauna hiku o Naʻauhau.
Makemake au e mālama kēia wahi nani loa, no ka mea, aia kō mau iwi kūpuna ma laila, he wahi i
hiki iā ā iā ʻoe ke ʻau, i hiki iʻoe ke hopu i nʻa, aka, i kēia manawa ʻaʻole hiki. ʻAʻohe iʻa. Mahalo.
PI‘IKEA LOA: Aloha mai kākou. My name is Pi‘ikea Loa and I am a sixth-generation
descendant of Kahalu‘u Ahupua‘a. Mahalo, Simmy. Mahalo, Hearings Officer. One of the
things, many things, that makes Hawai‘i special is that our ali‘i left lands for our people to steward
them. He ali‘i ka ‘āina, he kauwā ke kanaka; the land is a chief, man is its servant. My Kupuna
Naauhau was blessed with a Royal Patent in this ahupua‘a. Right across the street from the bay,
until today, sits the home that my great-grandfather, Willie Thompson, built for my
great-grandmother. My brothers and I have many fond memories of time spent living there with
our tūtū. I think the best of our time spent with her was while we were enjoying her mo‘olelo of
earlier days gathering, fishing, hunting, lei weaving, paniolo and so much more. Tūtū also taught
us about our ancestors who came before us, many of whom are forever laid to rest in that very
backyard. Kupuna iwi, it’s our kuleana, every Hawaiian, to protect them, all of them, not just our
own. Because of my connection and my love for all of Ko Hawaiipaeaina, I’m here today. As I
understand, KIC is the landholder. So, my question is, what would Princess Pauahi do? As her
will states, education of our children was her number one priority, with the goal of building a
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vibrant future for her people. So, where in all of that does 306 timeshares fit into her will? She
trusted the board to always make the right decisions based off of her expectations.
As the host culture our people have been taught to always show aloha. Yes, aloha is our
superpower but at the same time also our biggest downfall. The aloha we have shown the world
has made it a dream destination for many. Our culture has been under attack for so long, and now
our people are saying enough – enough development, timeshares, rail, and on and on and on, all
while stomping on the host culture. Hokuli‘a with burials literally sitting under a tarp for over 13
years – unacceptable.
We have already established that Kahalu‘u is a historic preservation district. We have already
established that there are more than just a few significant cultural sites on the parcel of the
proposed development. We may have even already established that the current infrastructure
doesn’t allow for this development to happen without further depleting our already minimal
resources. We are already on water conservation due to failed pumps that aren’t sufficient enough
to meet the over-demand of developments already in Kona, all along Kona Coast. Talks of taking
water from mauka to makai are already happening. How much more of an increase, impact, can
we expect from this project? On the topic of water, electricity, cable and telephone services, the
EA states that the project will connect to existing lines. Wastewater connection will require
additional work on portions of Ali‘i Drive. More traffic. Please consider more than just what is to
gain with this project, also carefully consider what will be lost forever. The legacy each of us
leave our families are also forever. In ending, mahalo for your time.
ROLLY FROST: Aloha. I come to you this morning as a technical expert. I spent the last 40
years doing safety and health and environment in Hawai‘i. I have a Master of Science degree in
Environmental Health and I’m an expert in underground fluid flows. Started back in 2003 with
the Planning Commission, objecting to underground termicides. These buildings are made of very
cheap wood. They are not kiln-dried, so they have water inside the wood. They just dry the skin,
and then paint penta on the ends. Termites get in, they hallow it out. So, what they do is they
inject termicides all around the building. These termicides migrate down to the shoreline, kill the
limu, the little fish, the ‘opihi. This is, on O‘ahu they call them, legacy, legacy pollutants instead
of legacy. Aldrin, Dieldrin, all of these underground termicides have made it impossible to eat
anything from the freshwater sources on O‘ahu. You cannot eat any of it, not the ponds, not the
streams; it’s all polluted with termicides. We don’t want that to happen here.
There are other pollutants, too. I want to direct your attention, as our kupuna said, to that sewer
line. It’s got saltwater in it. And the last year when the sand – I live at Magic Sands, I live at
La‘aloa Ahupua‘a, I go down to the beach – when the sand is gone, all the boulders are covered
with the bright green limu. I was trained by the Health Department to recognize this as pollution
from sewage. Magic Sands has been polluted by sewage by that sewage line. Bright green
whenever the sand goes out. That’s a legacy, too. Once you get in this underground stuff, it
doesn’t end; it goes on and on and on and on.
Kahalu‘u is probably the sweetest snorkeling place in all the islands. I’ve been all around the
islands, snorkeled everywhere. There is nothing like Kahalu‘u for the coral and the little tame reef
fish. It’s a gorgeous experience. But it won’t last, if we put cheap buildings up around it. On the
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mainland they call it a watershed and they are very careful to preserve their watershed, the forest
lands above where the water goes through. Well, this land you are going to put these 300 and odd
timeshare buildings on this watershed for Kahalu‘u lagoon, the jewel of our island. Shame on us
for even considering development like this. Shame on us.
I have written testimony here, the EPA reports on O‘ahu. But, to put these condos, that they’ll
turn into condos, they’ll start off timeshares, you can wash your car and the water that goes into
the ground has detergent and oil in it, it gets down into the little tubes, goes right down to the
beach and kills all the wild life there. We do not live on the mainland. The ground is like a bunch
of little tubes, like veins; anything you put on the ground or in the ground migrates down to
Kahalu‘u lagoon like a bathtub ring in your bathtub. It’s hard to sample because once it comes
out, you know, the ocean dilutes it. So you have to look at indicator species to see what the
damage is. But I’ve been down there a lot. The little keiki pond right in front of the lifeguard
chair, it’s about a foot, foot and a half deep, you go down there at the right time of the day, there is
cold water comes out of the rocks and it’s on top of the surface. Freshwater floats on saltwater,
and you can drink it. It’s beautiful, cold freshwater. Well, it was. Put this development in, it
won’t be. Thank you for listening. Aloha.
GEORGE ABOOD: Hello. My name is George Abood. I’m here to speak on behalf of the
Surfrider Foundation’s Kona Kai Ea Chapter. In case you don’t know, Surfrider is an
international non-profit whose mission is to help protect the shoreline and the ocean through
conservation, research, education and activism.
Our group strongly supports the McMichael ‘ohana and their efforts to stop this development. We
defer to the cultural practitioners and kānaka maoli to present the compelling cultural and
historical issues, which show the inappropriateness of this plan.
Some of our members have frequented this coastal area for decades and even generations. We see
that in many respects, the area is already at peak carrying capacity. The waters are sadly impaired,
much of which is likely due to seepage from cesspools and septic tanks too close to the water.
And a recent sewer breach portends of worse to come. We feel for that this reason it makes no
sense to develop the area, especially on such a large scale until the sewer line is extended and the
waters show measurable improvement.
For many residents and visitors, Kahalu‘u Park is already inaccessible due to lack of parking,
beach space and space in the water, especially during peak tourist season, which seems to last
longer every year. Even in so-called non-peak times, the surf zone, snorkeling areas and parking
are overcrowded due to visitors and surf schools.
As for roads, no matter how many are built, catch-up can never happen when permitting and
development continue. Slow crawling traffic is the norm in both directions. With the new bypass,
it’s only gotten worse.
There are some growing threats of climate and sea level changes. We feel that sensible,
long-range planning demands larger building setbacks for all of our coastal communities and
especially areas like Kahalu‘u, which provide our members and growing population with
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recreation, gathering and subsistence opportunities. These areas are visibly shrinking through sea
inundation and are in need of more care and buffer than they’ve received to date. How can we
collectively make that happen at Kahalu‘u? Without serious long-term help, it’s clear that
shrinking accessible coastal areas like this can’t withstand the burden of significantly increasing
the area’s population like this development would do.
We strongly feel that this development is untimely and ill-conceived. We appreciate that there are
protections for some cultural sites, but it seems they’re not enough. We also question whether this
proposal is a fit with the Kona Community Development Plan, which demands infrastructure
concurrency, as well as other parameters of Smart Growth. Please deny this SMA permit for the
long-term benefit of the majority of residents who live in and access this area including the
shoreline. Mahalo.
THOMAS MCKENNA WALINSKI: Good morning. Thank you for the warm welcome,
Speaker. Aloha. Good morning. So much tears came out from the first speaker and everyone. I
have to have my shades on, so pardon me. I’ve lived at Kahalu‘u for about 15 years and spent
more time at the beach than anyone there. It’s turned into one abstract toxic waste down at this
place. My only breeze comes from a dryer vent. I smell the chemicals. I can taste the chemicals
in the ocean. I think we could all just stop now and leave this. There is no reason to continue on,
to move forward. The water is compromised. The ocean is compromised. The life of the people
is compromised. The future is not looking good. It’s not looking good now. For every reason on
this list. The artifacts, I’ve seen artifacts leave Kahalu‘u, stolen from Kahalu‘u, big pieces, small
pieces, all pieces, just right in the sand, easy. So where this development is proposed there is very
much. I’m going to stop. The traffic, the traffic needs to stop. Thank you for bringing it up. It
takes me 15 minutes to cross the road sometimes. So for every reason that’s listed, this needs to
stop. I don’t know why we’re even speaking more. I’m going to stop now. Thank you for your
time. Aloha.
EARL DELEON: \[Began with a chant accompanied by others in audience\] E hō mai ka ‘ike mai
luna mai ē. ‘O nā mea huna no‘eau o nā mele ē. E hō mai, e hō mai, e hō mai ē. E hō mai ka ‘ike
mai luna mai ē. ‘O nā mea huna no‘eau o nā mele ē. E hō mai, e hō mai, e hō mai ē. E hō mai ka
‘ike mai luna mai ē. ‘O nā mea huna no‘eau o nā mele ē. E hō mai, e hō mai, e hō mai ē.
Aloha mai kākou, lāhui ‘ohana, kupuna-s, keiki-s, Mr. Crudele. I open with a kāhea respecting
and calling our kupuna-s, our elders, our ancestors and our ‘aumakua-s to be present here today.
We are speaking of our culture, a historical remnant that goes back to time immemorial. Because
of this I am moved to testify today. I’ll do my written testimony so that it’ll be comprehendible to
everyone, and if I elaborate, I will. But, mahalo, ke Akua. Mahalo, Aunty Lily, who I’ve known
all my life, being born and raised here.
First and foremost I would like to say mahalo to ke Akua. Without our Creator there would be no
creation. We are all so blessed and privileged to live in this beautiful moku‘āina we call Hawaiti.
My name is Earl E. DeLeon, Keoua kalanikupuapa ‘I kalaninui Maele. My ‘ohana comes from
Kealakekua and the rugged lands of Ka‘ū from the beginning of time immemorial. I am a direct
seventh generation descendant of the house of Keoua. I remember as a child, Kahalu‘u beach was
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the first place I ever swam when I was four years old. The first beach, and the sand went all the
way out. I spent many years in this very bay pounding ‘opihi, hā‘uke‘uke, pipipi, cross net pai
pai, with the renowned ‘ohana from the district, the Kamoku ‘ohana and the Nahale ‘ohana. I was
one of the many kanaka ‘ōiwi who helped reestablish the Makahiki festival here at Kahalu‘u
Beach in the late 80’s and 90’s. And at that time we were threatened with incarceration for
participating in our own religious and cultural beliefs.
I have to be honest, to myself first, my kūpuna, my tūtū-s that came before me and my entire Kona
community from the old days to now; I am an employee, I am the project superintendent of Towne
Realty and Development, for eleven years. I have supervised many projects with the highest
integrity and professional standards possible. Like many of us who work in the construction and
tourist industry, we understand the painful compromise that we deal with on a daily basis. Our
work is often in total contradiction to our cultural practices and our religious beliefs.
In all the years I have been employed with Towne Development, my work has never jeopardized
my cultural and religious beliefs until now, because it involves the removal of our kanaka ‘ōiwi-s,
our ancestors, our bones from the beginning of time immemorial thousands of years before this.
This very painful conflict of interest has taken a toll on my heart and my health, my entire ‘ohana.
I brought this to the attention of my upper management who understands my situation and have
encouraged me to attend and testify at this contested case hearing, regardless if it’s for, against,
bad, and without the fear of repercussion. Speaks to the integrity of my company.
As a kanaka maoli born and raised in Kona and a kanaka ‘ōiwi practitioner who fishes, dives and
sustains myself from these waters and lands my entire life, I cannot in my na‘au and in all good
conscience condone this development in its present form and allow the possibility of the
desecration to a nationally registered historical site. It would seem that the State and the County
preservation department should be responsible and held accountable and liable for these kinds of
desecration in the event it does occur.
It is also my belief that it would be in the best interest of all parties involved to have a combined
effort to create an independent archaeological survey of all discrepancies of registered historical
sites. Kupuna Mitchell, who assisted recognized cultural site expert Henry P. Kekahuna, testified
at these very hearings that the burial sites are so ancient and so extensive that there are layers and
layers of iwi-s there, layers and layers, not one, not two, but layers. Many more kupuna-s have
testified, many concerned community leaders confirm that house sites, farming and religious
practices are more, much more extensive than has been surveyed under this project proposal. This
to me is extremely heart wrenching and hard to bear. I had to walk out and relieve myself bursting
in tears and pain in my heart. It’s so hard to bear down and listen to all kupuna-s calling out to us.
We were taught our core, core values are to respect and honor our kupuna-s and their mana‘o and
their ‘ike, their vision. It’s in our culture to honor those. And as for Bishop Estate Development, I
think we pointing fingers at my company is not the right place. There is a broken trust here. If it’s
not Towne Development, it will be somebody else or somebody else or somebody else. Doesn’t
matter. You have to get to the core and root of the pilikia; it’s the broken trust of Bishop Estate,
the broken trust of the State government, allowing these kinds of lenient criteria set upon
development that does not protect the culture, does not protect the people, does not protect the
future of our generations to come. Because of this, I have to, I have to bring to your attention,
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Mr. Crudele, as the present day konohiki, it is your kuleana – a konohiki is a person who oversees
the land, the properties, that makes those kinds of decisions that you would be making – I would
call out to you and ask you to make the right decision. It is your kuleana; it’s your responsibility
to protect the interest of the people of this land. He Hawai‘i a mau a mau. I am Hawai‘i. We are
Hawai‘i. If we cannot respect the host race, who then do we respect, who then do we honor, who
do we call Hawai‘i? People from all over the world come here, to Hawai‘i, because we have that
aloha, we have that love for the land and for the people. Without it, you don’t have a commodity.
Let’s not just use us as the commodity. Respect and honor our tradition, our culture and our
heritage.
In closing I would like to send out a big mahalo to everyone here. Simmy and your ‘ohana, you
have stood up against a giant, a giant, as meager little peons. They have rows of lawyers against
you. And I honor you guys for standing here today and going through this transition, going
through this contested case hearing. It’s not easy, but you take the task and you holomua, you
move forward. I’d like to thank everybody else here, everybody who has testified. It’s because
your voice, your voice would speak a thousand words. Without a voice you don’t have an action.
And I told myself, I was going to sit and no say nothing. Every time I don’t like to say nothing; I
like to be just quiet. Well, the silence has eaten my soul up. The silence has eaten my children up.
I represent the house of Keoua. I am Keoua kalanikupuapa ‘I kalaninui Maele. My tūtū man is
the father of Kamehameha I. How can I sit by and say nothing? I cannot. E kala mai ia‘u, I
cannot. It’s my kuleana to stand for it, for my people, for my community, for my mo‘opuna-s, my
children. If I don’t, tomorrow when they ask me, “Dad, what did you say? What did you do?”
and I’m going to say, “Nothing.” Kala mai ia‘u, I cannot say, “nothing.”
I kū mau mau! \[AUDIENCE: I kū wa!\] I kū mau mau, i kū hulu hulu, i ka lanawao!
\[AUDIENCE: I kū wa!\] I kū lanawao! \[AUDIENCE: I kū wa!\] I kū wa huki! \[In unison\] I kū
wa kō! I kū wa a mau! A mau ka ēulu! Ē huki ē! Kūlia!
Aloha.
\[AUDIENCE: I kū mau mau! I kū wa! I kū mau mau, i kū hulu hulu, i ka lanawao! I kū wa! I kū
lanawao! I kū wa! I kū wa huki! I kū wa kō! I kū wa a mau! A mau ka ēulu! Ē huki ē! Kūlia!\]
And that’s to kāhea the unity of a people, to ask them to come in together as one. In the ancient
times they would haul a canoe’s, the logs out of the mountains, and they would do it together, and
they would do this chant so you can do it together as one. So this community is speaking as one
voice, one heart, one love. He Hawai‘i au mau a mau. Aloha ‘āina. Aloha ‘āina. This land we
belong to, it don’t belong to us; we are the temporary caretakers. How we care for it, how we use
it, prostitute it, exploit it, makes a big difference in where we are going to go tomorrow in the
heavens. Mahalo ke Akua first of all. Mahalo, Mr. Crudele, Mr. Chris Lau, for allowing me to
speak today. Speaks to the integrity of my company that I have worked for. And if you see me
sleeping on the beach tomorrow, hala pau, I gone. Mahalo, ke Akua. Aloha you guys.
GRACE HA‘O: Good morning. My name is Grace Ha‘o. I’ve lived in Hawai‘i my whole life. I
was raised here in Kailua-Kona. Excuse me, this is very emotional for me. My entire family has
deep connections with this community. I grew up with the Kamaka’s and the Alapai’s and the
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Kanuha’s. I worked at Pacific Vibrations as a teenager with the McMichael’s and grew up with
them and their family. They came to my wedding. That’s how, how long I’ve been here and lived
in this community that, this is my family. Ali‘i Drive, White Sands, Kahalu‘u Beach, they were
my stomping grounds. My children, my grandchildren, we’ve all grown here. I may not be native
Hawaiian, but I am proud to be from Hawai‘i and call this my home.
I am also the Project Coordinator for Towne Realty of Hawai‘i. I’ve been employed by this
company for almost 14 years. I was asked by my supervisors to attend the last hearing so I would
be ware of this contested case and our company’s part in it. I do not work in land acquisition area,
so I’m not totally knowledgeable or versed in how this process works, but I do know that Towne
Development of Hawai‘i is an honorable and respectable company that is caring and sensitive to
the community, culturally and environmentally. The history of this company is admirable. It’s a
majority-owned by a charitable foundation for non-profit grant-making institution that seeks to
improve the well-being of individuals, families and neighborhoods. This is a very good
community, or company, to work for, excuse me. They take care of my, my family, their
employees and the community, and are continually giving back to us and to local communities.
This is how I make my living, take care of my family, allowed me to live and prosper here and be
in Hawai‘i.
I was not asked to be a witness by either side of this case, but after attending the last hearing I was
so emotionally affected, and my heart and my conscious has called me to say something and to
speak my truth. I shared with my company how this affects me and what close ties I have to this
community and all the parties involved. I was encouraged by them to speak my mind, and again,
regardless if it was for or against, good or bad, without the fears of repercussions. This alone does
show me the integrity and respect that my company has for me and trust in me.
This is one of the hardest positions to be in, one that puts me literally on both sides and forces me
to question and justify my beliefs and my part in all of this. I hear, and I feel, all of the
testimonies, because it is my heart and it is my truth that you are speaking. It breaks my heart to
see all the wrongs that have been done, the disrespectful and uncaring construction that has been
going on for years all over Kona. And I also see that progress is inevitable. We are all affected
and in some way tied to this progress. I personally see the jobs that are created by development.
Our local people, including my family members, are in construction – carpenters, electricians, you
know, they work in the local tourism and hotel industry. My husband is a native Hawaiian. He is
family with the Kahulamū’s and his trade is a diesel mechanic, and he will be working on the
machines that will clear the land. I wish we lived in a utopian society where we could be
self-sufficient and live off the land and not need Costco or Walmart or our jobs to pay our bills.
But unfortunately, this is not our reality; living here we are all somehow forced to compromise our
beliefs and lifestyles to survive. Ultimately, we are all accountable and responsible. I’ve asked
myself why my life path has brought me here, placed me in this position with this company. And
I have to believe it is for purpose, and however this all unfolds, it is meant to be. If this project is
approved to move forward, I don’t know the exact part I will play, but I do know that I am a very
spiritual and culturally sensitive person, and I believe that this will give our company the
opportunity to set a precedent for this development, as well as future developments, that things are
done correctly, respectfully and right. I can speak for myself personally and for my project
superintendent, Earl DeLeon, who is my family, that we will ensure that this is done pono. I
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commend the McMichaels for taking on this case. And I know there needs to be someone to
blame, but Towne Development is not a faceless greedy corporate monster. I am the face of
Towne Realty and I do care. Ultimately, our company is being allowed to develop here. So the
bigger questions are, since this land is so culturally and historically significant, how was it allowed
to be sold? How did the County Planning Department, DLNR and all the other State and Federal
departments approve the zoning and use without the proper infrastructure to the roads and to the
sewage? The lack of maintenance at Kahalu‘u Beach is a disgrace. The water pollution and
desalinization is disgusting and a health risk. I see this. My family has gone there for years. The
beach used to go all the way out. There was a whole another pavilion there. It’s disgusting, you
know. My family swims and eats fish. My husband is a fisherman. They all come from this
ocean. And if changes and improvements aren’t made, our beautiful island that attracts locals and
visitors alike, will be a toxic wasteland that no one can utilize or benefit from.
This affects all aspects of my life, but I know, and I trust, that I am coming from a place of respect
and integrity, and I will speak for my company and to my company on this matter. Thank you for
your time and consideration.
KARY MEDINA: Aloha. Good morning. I’m Kary Medina. I am born and raised on this island.
I’m here to speak on behalf of my children and my future generations to follow me. I learned to
swim at Kahalu‘u at the age of three. My family is from here, all the way from Kohala to Ka‘ū.
My daughter will come and present our genealogy, and you’ll hear the name, Keawi‘iwi, which
means the keeper of the bones. That is my ‘ohana. To give back to my people I’m here to speak
on behalf of them and our future. I want to raise my kids here and I want their kids to be raised
here. I won’t even take my children anymore swimming over there, and it’s sad because that’s
where I learned to swim, just because it’s so dirty, it’s lepo. I wasn’t really prepared to speak
today. I’m not going to give you numbers and I’m not going to give you all this facts; I’m going
to give you my heart. And I know that that place, that iwi, is important to all of us. If it’s not
directly from us, or our ‘ohana, it’s, it’s, it’s all our family, it’s everything in that area. I’m
privileged to sit here with ‘anakē, that she’s able to speak, and you should be, too. You are able to
hear her, her voice. We don’t have many of that anymore, you know, and I’m so blessed that I
could have my children here to hear that as well. If it’s all right, I’m going to call my daughter
here – she, I filled out the paper for her as well, okay? Mahalo.
TAYTUM ‘ĀLOHILOHI MEDINA: Welina mai me ke aloha mai ka piā puka i Haʻi a ka lʻehaʻe
a i ka mole ʻo Lehua. Aloha mai kākou. \[Audience: Aloha.\] ‘O ko‘u inoa ‘o ‘Ālohilohi ʻeiwa aʻu
makahiki a e haʻi moʻolelo au e pili i koʻu moūʻokʻauhau o ka ʻohana Medina:
‘O Leatrice Yuen, ka wahine, ‘o Charles Keawi‘iwi Kimokeo, ke kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia
‘o Evalani Kimokeo, he wahine. ‘O Emily Dusty Medina, ka wahine, ‘ā ‘o Thomas Stubbs, ke
kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o Gary Medina, he kāne. ‘O Evalani Kimokeo, ka wahine, ‘ā ‘o
Gary Medina, ke kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o Kary Evalani Medina, he wahine. ‘O Muriel
Losalio, he wahine, ‘ā ‘o Tsunenori Akahoshi, ke kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o Jerylyn
Akahoshi. ‘O Dolores Fernandez, ka wahine, ‘ā ‘o Edward Kamoa‘ali‘i Huihui, ke kāne, noho pū
lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o Edward Huihui, Jr., he kāne. ‘O Jerylyn Akahoshi, ka wahine, ‘ā ‘o Edward
Huihui, Jr., ke kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o Kaimi Chad Huihui. ‘O Kary Evalani Medina, ka
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
wahine, ‘ā ‘o Kaimi Chad Huihui, ke kane, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o ‘Ālohilohi Medina. ‘O au
‘o ‘Ālohilohi Medina, a ʻo koʻu mau ʻohana iwi ma Kahalu‘u. Mahalo.
ALAPA‘I KAULIA: ‘O Josephine Yolanda Hulihe‘e, ka wahine, ‘o David Jose Alapa‘i, Jr., ke
kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o Cindy Alapa‘i, he wahine. ‘O Flora Mayoga, ka wahine, ‘o
Peter Kaulia, ke kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o David Kaulia, Sr., he kāne. ‘O Cindy Alapa‘i,
ka wahine, ‘o David Kaulia, Sr., ke kāne, noho pū lāua a hānau ‘ia wau ‘o Alapa‘i Hulihe‘e
Kaulia.
My name is Alapa‘i Hulihe‘e Kaulia. From my mom’s side, which is the Hulihe‘e Alapa‘i side,
we connect to the Kahulamū ‘ohana, and the Kanuha ‘ohana from that area. We are related to the
‘āina in that area. From my dad’s side I’m connected to the Kanaka‘ole side, also related to that
area. I was born in 1986 in Kealakekua, and raised in Kahalu‘u to the age of twelve.
Unfortunately, we were not on kuleana land, or family land; we were in the apartments that we
could afford, which is a low-income apartments. Growing up in this area and seeing the dramatic
changes from a natural landscape to a concrete jungle with houses so close to each other you can
hear, you can’t feel the breeze, but you can hear each other’s fart, burp or sneeze. Living there
from this early age, I was able to experience firsthand the mana of this ‘āina. Continuing my
education in that area, I was told that the area is Kahalu‘u, the place of intensified learning. So
like how nowadays we go to college and we go to different areas to learn the different trades now
we are learning the western concepts in the colleges, but in that area that’s where the ali‘i-s would
go, they have a heiau known as Hāpaiali‘i, and that’s where they would go to elevate themselves
and their chiefs for a higher thinking and better knowledge and connection to the ‘āina. So it
would be an area to kilo, to kilo of the sunset, to realign yourself, the Makahiki season, to realign
yourself with what’s happening in the weather as opposed to what’s happening in January to
December, which is totally different from how the Hawaiians would tell time with the moon, and
the different environment or activities, which constellations up in the sky, which ones are going
down and what seasons we are in. So that area is very significant to the Hawaiian people.
The iwi-s on that area is my families, that’s on that area. We have a great connection from there.
But unfortunately, I was taught from the western side, living in an apartment, my connection to
that area, and I wish it was more from a kupuna standpoint. So it’s lovely to see kupuna here
sitting with us with all this knowledge in the room. So we are definitely blessed to be here today.
\[Inaudible comment from audience\] He kupuna.
So this area is considered Special Management Area, and people with money should not be able to
come in and destroy the graves. What I’ve been noticing lately is a lot of people have been
coming here with aspiration and dreams to create different things in the area, as Uncle DeLeon
said, that it’s, Uncle Earl said, that we are the host culture. When you keep coming in and you
messing up stuff – for example, I am a temporary employee for Kamehameha Schools as well, so I
work directly with outreach for teaching children, education of that area, and right now we just
passed, which was about a year ago I believe, I was sitting in front of the Leeward Planning Board
\[Commission\] to see if we could bring down the hotel. So the reason for bringing down the hotel
is to restore the heiau that is under there. But basically, what happened was the original thing that
was there is already destructed, it’s desecrated, it’s no longer going to be the same. So what we
can do at this point moving forward is teach the kids what was there, what it was used for, and
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
how they can continue to use it. But, once again, that area is desecrated. And we need to not let
them do that. We need to stop it. Right now there is more questions about this development than
there are answers. Some of the questions – and it’s not even micromanaging yet – some of the
questions are about the sacredness of the land, which I just shared with you, the historical ties to
the lands, which was also shared with you. Uncle Earl also shared about the burial desecrations
underway that they were buried in that area. Twenty-five percent water reduction happening right
now; if we built 306, how much more would we have to reduce our water at that point? Traffic in
that area right now there are stop-signs all over Ali‘i Drive; how much more times do we have to
stop before we get to our destination? Evacuation routes, what’s going to happen, if we do have
an emergency, tsunami evacuations? Do we have enough areas to evacuate that area – which I
don’t believe we do, because right now when there is a tsunami warning, our roads are already
clogged up in that section. And also, infrastructure, like I was saying earlier, a lot of people are
thinking about our growing economy but not thinking about the host culture and the people of this
area, and by the time you think that, it’s, that you destructed something, it’s too late to go back and
try to restore something like that. So it’s very significant and very important that we answer
questions before we start moving forward with what we want to do and putting up our blinds and
not wanting to listen to certain people’s testimonies. So, as I was saying, as an employee of
Kamehameha Schools, we are sending mixed messages to our future generations, of wanting to
restore and dismantle a hotel and restore a heiau on a certain side and then on the opposite side of
the street we are going to go ahead with development, which is sending a really mixed message to
our students. And, to tell you the truth, I’m not supposed to be speaking on behalf of
Kamehameha Schools, so I am not speaking on behalf of Kamehameha Schools and speaking on
behalf of myself. I may not have a job with Kamehameha Schools after this, but what needs to be
done needs to be done.
So, to me these issues show a sign of overdevelopment in this area. The solution to me is to not
develop more in this area but to listen to the families of this area, and allow things to rejuvenate,
replenish and be left alone. Mahalo.
CASSANDRA MILLER: Aloha. Good morning. I’m a transplant from Oklahoma, and have
been here working hard. I live right down the street in the neighborhood by Plumeria-Royal
Poinciana, so I’ve been to Kahalu‘u quite a lot, hanging out, walking, going snorkeling, enjoying
it. And even in the last couple of years that I’ve been here, I’ve noticed an influx of pollutants in
the water. The sunscreen or the oil or whatever that’s going from the street into the water
whenever the rain comes through, you can see the rivers, the streams of it, swim through it, not be
able to see out of your goggles and then all of a sudden be able to see without your goggles, and
turn around and see the stream that’s going through. So, that’s happening right now. I can’t
imagine what’s going to happen when at least 306, let’s say one car per timeshare, comes through
– that’s not counting maintenance trucks, that’s not counting managers, people coming to visit –
adding all of those cars everyday coming through the four stop signs that takes to go into town,
sitting there, waiting longer in traffic, oil spilling onto the road, if raining, that going into the
beach. That’s Problem One.
Problem Two, let’s cut down all the trees, which keep us clean air, keep shade, bring the breeze in,
bring the rain. Cut down those trees not only does the soil, the physical soil go, the people who
are buried underneath there go with it, get washed out into an already polluted water mass into the
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
fish that are not healthy, to the turtles that are not healthy, washed away out to sea, so that 306
people minimum can come and hang out, not even be able to walk to the beach, not be able to get
into town anytime soon. The things that we have right now already are not supported; adding to it
is not, we are not ready for it. We are not ready for the water. We were not ready for the sewage
leak that just now got fixed. I haven’t been back since the sewage leak happened. I don’t, I don’t
think that it’s been gone, you know. Whenever you have a leak in your house, you’ve got an
HVAC team that’s in there, hazard team cleaning, bleaching, tenting your house. And it just got
repaired for now into a, into a water system, a tributary that has life in it that goes out into the
ocean and spreads whatever happen in there. So, physically, it’s already a problem.
I see kids walking to the Kahakai Elementary School up and down Ali‘i, and I think that more cars
there sitting in traffic not knowing that there are children waiting for the bus or children walking
home, children walking to Banyan, anything along the road right there, 306 more cars a day is a
problem. I already have people speeding through on Plumeria Road where I live; they speed
through my neighborhood to get away from the Royal Poinciana speedbumps to go up to Upper
Road. So, physically, the permaculture of it, it just, it’s not sustainable now, and later there is no
way that it’s going to sustain. Right now we are having really big problems.
You know, all over the world right now we are kind of having a water protector struggle, because
water is life. Water, clean water, is the only way that we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing,
especially here in Hawai‘i. The water is all around us, saltwater, but when we have a freshwater
come in, it’s very rare, it’s very beautiful, it’s what keeps it green, feeds us, you know, nourish our
body. But whenever you get any infectants, like we’ve talked about, anything that goes into the
ground goes into the water. And everything that’s in the ground right now, including family that
might not be my blood, not my skin that I come from, but it’s my earth family, it’s people who
have been there for thousands of thousands of years. So, now why just when we have the money,
if it’s been protected this entire time, just because we have the money, I don’t think that that
means that we can undo what’s been sacred this whole time.
So, just from being around for my short time and not even having my lifetime experience here,
I’ve been blessed by every single aspect of this island. I try to pick up every single piece of trash.
I try to yell at anybody I see standing on the coral. They don’t know any better, maybe they, they
are not meaning to stand and kick and break and, you know, get too close to the turtles, they are
not trying to do that. But that’s what we’ve got going on right now with the limited amount of
guests we have. I can’t imagine adding 300 more minimum people to that every day, coming in
and unknowingly undoing the great work of this island. So, I thank everybody for showing up,
and I’m glad to be here. Thank you.
ROLLY FROST: I forgot one thing. There is a mechanism called an Environmental Impact
Statement. I don’t agree that Towne Development is a benign company. I think they should be
made to do an Environmental Impact Statement. Thank you.
TONYA COULTER: Aloha. Good morning. My name is Tonya Coulter and I live in South
Kona. And I’m coming here today as a parent, as a homemaker. My family moved here. My
husband is a teacher in a public school in South Kona. And one of the things that I want to talk
about – I’m sorry, I’m very nervous – is the fact that there are impacts to this kind of development,
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which people are talking about today, immediate impacts, to the immediate area, but there are also
indirect impacts. So, my husband is a school teacher, and we have families who live on catchment
water and who drive an hour and half to come to school, because they are pushed south, they are
pushed to places where they can afford to live. But they are inadequate. They don’t have the kind
of amenities. The children need to have healthy drinking water and sanitation. And this kind of
development, you have to ask who is it for? And this team, this commission, who is here to look
at development for this County, who is this for? So, just because we can do something doesn’t
mean we should do it. When – my children are with me, two of my youngest children – many
people have come and talked about the impact to the immediate area, about the water, the cultural
implications, and I’m not going to talk about those because I’m not, I’m not really prepared to.
But we all know that there are more and more homeless people in this county, and there are
families that are living on the edge, and they need homes. And we should be talking about not just
this development, but appropriate development, appropriate development for the people of
Hawai‘i, not – and, and then, we talk about appropriate redevelopment of the coastline. It’s not
sustainable. The sea level is rising. The effluent is in the water. The water table is already taxed.
There is a water reduction. And who is this development for? So, when you make your decision
to approve this or not approve this, think about the responsibility you have to the people that live
here now, please. Mahalo.
JEROME KANUHA: Aloha. Hi, Simmy. Thank you for bringing me up so early. I’ve got to go
pick up my grandson, because he’s my first one, yeah? I’m here representing the Kanuha family.
And I listened to Aunty, whew, Aunty Lily talk, and I’m gonna talk for the guys above because
they the one talking to me. I listen to everybody testify and talk about respecting the ‘āina. Here
Kailua I’m so fortunate to have a beach name after my family, the Kanuha Beach, because the
ahupua‘a still owned by us, we own all the way up Keōpū. My dad gave me that land, not gave
me, gave me to be the respon- the kahu of that area to respect, to honor, what the ‘āina is all about.
I can sit here and tell you what I did as a kid, I can tell you when I used to paddle my surfboard
from Kailua to Kahalu‘u in one day. I used to – my cousins used to live in front right by
Kahalu‘u, the house, the Funk’s – I used to walk on the wall. Everybody say what wall? The big,
big wall, all the way out there coming front. I jump in the water, my surfboard by the rocks. That
place is a special place to everybody. I understand these people are gonna build this big
condominium there, but when we blame people, you blame the top people who did this, this
disgrace to all of us. Kamehameha Schools, and I love them in a certain way, but despise them
because my son tried to go Kamehameha School and he never go, he couldn’t go, he had tears
because, I still, I remember he was trying to get in and he just wanted to go school and learn about
who he was and what his family was. So, I started a foundation called Betty Kanuha Foundation.
My mom at our house in Kailua where 32 people living in our house since I was 17 – right,
Aunty? We eat, you come home late, you no eat. My mother was one haole. In my house she
couldn’t come in the parlor because all the Hawaiians talked only in Hawaiian, she had to sit
outside. She was the most powerful person, powerful person, but she always said, and my dad
said, the most important thing that you can save is not the money, is the ‘āina, the land. Why
we’ve got so much land in Kailua, because, you know why, we are pa‘akikī, hardhead. What
happens is that all these lands that goes from Kailua down to Kahalu‘u, the corridor, is powerful
lands, all of them, everything. I’ve got a piece of property right by the ocean, the little green grass
with the orange cones, and people ask, “Can I come on?” and I say, “No.” It’s mine. I sit there
because I enjoy the beautiful mornings, every morning, at five in the morning, drinking my coffee
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
and I talk to the sun, it talks to me. What we are doing is that your decision on this development is
your decision, but can you live with it for down the road? It’s going to be real hard for all you
guys to do that. I’m in the process of, I go own land on Ali‘i Drive also, a couple of acres I own.
But I’m not gonna do nothing, we don’t, because my dad never, he never tell me what to do with
them yet. What’s important here – and it’s hard for me to speak because, I don’t go out and testify
on anything, because, you know, my son is a councilperson and it’s real hard for me to do things
like this, but enough is enough for me. So, I speak for my own self; I don’t speak for him.
Because, you know, like anything else, if Earl was working for me, I would fire him for coming
up here – I’m joking. No, it’s, he can go stay by the beach with me. So, I don’t work for nobody;
I work for myself. What’s important here is that my little keiki is important to me. And Simmy, I
can tell you I know Simmy and Michael, and Makai over there – I remember his father pushing
him up in the van and hit his head when he was a baby. I was with them. Right, Simmy? She’s a
little small spunky person, outspoken sometimes, and we get, we get some different views in a lot
of things that we do. But this view is important. You guys gonna make decisions not gonna
happen; it’s gonna happen but it shouldn’t happen. We need to stop them. And I know my
‘ohana, the Alapai’s, they are all ‘ohana to me, the Kahulamū’s, they are all ‘ohana to me. And all
the iwi-s over there, too. Tell them no. No. No go. I no like no buffer. No is no. There’s no
change. So, for me if you guys come on my property, I’ll tell you no. I’ve got to deal with the
homeless every week, every month, you know. So, my own land, but I still got to pay more
money than I own them, because I’ve got to clean them. But, again, no is no. And it’s important
that we keep our lands and all our ahupua‘a intact. Aunty Lily said everybody there. My father
used to go up to the house, kūkākūkā, come down by Kahalu‘u, go down Keauhou, talk story.
And when you see the, you listen to them talk, they talk in Hawaiian, you know, talking. But,
again, I grew up in one tight family, we are one tight family. We come from the ali‘i family. I
don’t have to say that. I know Keakealaniwahine, Keolonāhihi, that’s where Kū started. And I sit
there, watch her, every day, every morning. Sun, sunrise, and she talk. Enough is enough. Okay?
Mahalo nui loa for this beautiful day. Aunty, you have spoken for all of us. You are kupuna.
And when you leave, hopefully, I’m gonna take your place. Aloha. Thank you. Thank you for
listening.
MANDY CAMPBELL: Aloha. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here today and
listening intently to all of our comments and concerns. I know it’s a lot, but it’s, it’s important.
My name is Mandy Johnson Campbell. I am a resident of Kailua-Kona, the Ahupua‘a of
Hōlualoa, and Kahalu‘u is very important to me personally and has been for a long time. The first
beach my babies went to, the first water that touched their feet – okay, kala mai. I’m an
archaeologist by trade and an environmental compliance specialist. I’ve been doing this kind of
work for over 15 years, so I’m familiar with the background research that goes into projects like
this.
Please understand that we love this place down to our bones. For many of us here, as you’ve
heard, this is literal, as their families’ bones have lovingly been laid to rest there for over seven
generations. You cannot be sure that you will avoid desecrating these resting places, as they are
not all marked. And I respectfully disagree that in its present form this project can be done in a
pono way, it cannot, I’m sorry. For many reasons that we’ve all been through, there’s no way you
can build these massive buildings this close to the ocean in a culturally important place and have it
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be pono. The best option for this land is to avoid this development and to deny the SMA permit.
So please pass that on to the Leeward Planning Commission.
I started a petition on Change.org to show the public’s desire that the Leeward Planning
Commission deny this permit. And as of today, I believe there are 1,100 and 20, excuse me, 1,123
people – that may have changed in the last few minutes – who have signed it and it’s gaining
momentum every day. Four hundred and twelve comments were also submitted with these
signatures. And all those were submitted by email to Jeff Darrow on Friday, so you have those
comments there, and I also have a hard copy here, if you need it, that’s yours. Since becoming
involved in this issue, I’ve talked to hundreds of people about the potential of this development at
Kahalu‘u. I have not encountered one single person who is in favor of it. I have spoken with
Hawaiians, local people born and raised, visitors, snowbirds, rich, poor, scientists, lifeguards, you
name it, not one person has supported it.
It doesn’t make any sense to grant this permit when just across the street, as has been talked about
already, part of the same cultural landscape the Kamehameha Schools Kahalu‘u Ma Kai project
will be spending millions of dollars to restore the landscape. Just two years ago the SMA permit
was granted by the Leeward Planning Commission to have them tear down the hotels and the
massive infrastructure in the name of restoring the cultural landscape and providing a site for
cultural education for the community. Many community members – I believe it was over 40 –
testified that that area was so culturally important to them, and that those developments never
should have been put in place in such an important area. This makes no sense and there needs to
be consistency in the permitting process, and the Planning Commission needs to hold
Kamehameha Schools and KIC accountable through this permitting process.
There are many egregious flaws and inadequate analysis of the potential environmental and
cultural impacts in the studies and reports submitted for this development. The FEA and
associated subcontracted reports, including all the archaeological documents, are inadequate for
assessing extremely detrimental impacts this project would bring.
As you are probably aware, this project falls within the Kahalu‘u National Historic District, which
is on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been since 1974. And the reports for this
project state that a portion of the property is within the District. This is also what all the
correspondence with the State Historic Preservation Department notes. However, that is incorrect;
the map that the assumption is based on incorrectly plots the boundaries of the National Historic
District. The text in that nomination form states that the Kahalu‘u District encompasses the
seaward half of the Kahalu‘u ahupua‘a and a small portion of Keauhou ahupua‘a. When plotted
on Google Earth and/or in GIS, the lat/longs provided on the nomination from show that the
boundary of the National Historic District encompasses the entire project area. So, they have not
done their analysis adequately. And I have those maps, if you would like to see them as well.
The impact to Kahalu‘u County Park would be tremendous. Tourist-driven development on this
island continues to rely heavily on county resources, such as beach parks, without providing
reciprocal resources to maintain them. The development will add hundreds of people per day to
Kahalu‘u Beach Park, which is already in a dilapidated state. The pond wall has not been repaired
since the last high wave that damaged it, and you’ve already heard all about the sewage. The surf
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
break is also heavily impacted already by surf schools and development would crowd out our local
surf community. And that’s important to us. That’s also a cultural site, the surf break is a cultural
site; it goes back hundreds, perhaps a thousand, years. In addition, and perhaps the most
important, is the impact that the increased timeshare development will have on our Hawai‘i
County lifeguards. Recently, when I contacted a friend of mine who is a lifeguard at Kahalu‘u, he
said he was working through his lunch breaks because there were no lifeguards available to give
him a break. On the same day, because of lack of staffing, another lifeguard was responding to a
spinal injury at Magic Sands by himself because he was the only lifeguard on duty, which is
dangerous for him and for all the other beachgoers. This is a regular occurrence for our lifeguards.
County Parks cannot afford the burden of hundreds of more beachgoers from this development.
The background research about endangered species is also grossly inadequate. The FEA states
that, “some native forest birds could utilize or fly over the project site, but it’s unlikely that
threatened or endangered species would find it suitable habitat or be affected by activities on the
project site. The two Hawaiian raptors, the Hawaiian hawk, or ‘io, and the Hawaiian owl, or pueo,
may make some use of the area. Although the Hawaiian hawk is an endangered species, the
subject property is not considered to be part of its essential habitat. No hawk nests were observed,
and the small stature trees are not the type utilized by hawks.” This is not correct. There are trees
within that property that are over 60 feet high, and I can tell you, I live at the same elevation as
this project area, and any tree that’s over rooftop height is a great place for ‘io-s to use and they do
use it. And pueo-s as well. So, that’s not good science. It’s not, not well done. And given the
contract biologist’s methods in other cases of endangered species, and I mentioned this in the last
testimony I gave that their survey for bats, the endangered ‘ōpe‘ape‘a, took place in the daytime,
which is not when they are active. That is the problem. And I also, I’m friends with some of the
Kahulamū family, and they see bats there all the time, so don’t tell me they are not there. They are
there. And also, Simmy has taken pictures of ‘io and pueo from her backyard, looking directly
into the project area. They are there. And if this scientist found that they weren’t going to be
using this area, that’s incorrect. There is also, the FEA also mentions that water quality will not be
affected by erosion or sediment runoff because it’s on the mauka side of the road; if anyone is
familiar with the Hokuli‘a case, we all know that sediment runoff is a big problem, and you can’t
just say because it’s on the mauka side of Ali‘i Drive, that it’s not going to have an impact on the
reef or the water quality. It also mentions that all the animals that are makai of the project area
that could be affected by increased salinity are marine animals, and that they won’t be affected, if
the salinity increases. This is also grossly inadequate and incorrect. There is also, the ponds at
Kahalu‘u are supposed to be an anchialine pool, as are the other ponds in the area. That means
they are brackish water. That means they are fresh and saltwater, and increases in salinity
drastically affects them. So, there is a lot of problems with the background research that has been
done for this project.
So, thank you very much for your time. This is not a good idea for this area. Mahalo.
KAREN GOLD: Aloha. I came here today not really planning to speak, but I just wanted to add
my voice. My husband and I moved to Kona three years ago, and we live in Palisades, mauka of
here. We moved here because my husband lived in Hawai‘i about 25 years ago in the early 90’s,
and he had to go back to the mainland, but he had always planned to come here when he retired.
So we were fortunate enough to move here three years ago. When I heard that there was a project
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
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
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older building, but my son was raised on the beaches there. At age five, he had a knife on his
ankle and was throwing net, and was raised literally by the fisherman in the area who taught him
everything he knows, and he is a fisherman to this day. He knows every inch of the coastline
there, and has never really confided to me up until now, but he did tell me that the reef in front of
the area is, where the heiau is, is dead and there are very few fish. And those of us who have been
here for a long time have noticed that the fish even in the bay are depleted and not as colorful and
just, just not the same. Early in the morning I’ve gone down and, as was witnessed, that the beach
is deteriorated. I spoke to a County worker the other day, and he’s told me that he takes care of all
of the area from Kahalu‘u to Hale Hālāwai, and they are very short-staffed and they can’t take care
of the whole place. There’s debris everywhere at all the beaches. We are trying to have
community input, grab a rake, go down, if you can, and clean up some of the area. Magic Sands
and the whole area just is very sad. And, of course, the facilities north and the six-lane highway,
all the money seems to be going north. But we need to protect and restore this area that’s very
sacred to so many of us. So, I’m, I’m just hoping that all of the work that Simmy and Loke have
done, and the family, will provide the evidence that we need to stop and we need to restore the
whole area and stop development. We need to stop it. We don’t need it in that area. It’s a sacred
area, and it would be beautiful to just take care of it. Thank you very much.
CLARE LOPRINZI: I’ll keep it to three minutes. I just am really honored. First, aloha kakahiaka
and mahalo, mahalo that, our kupuna here – can’t say enough every time. I’ve been here a long
time. I came here because I was told to come here. And I’m a traditional midwife. I’m a cultural
practitioner. And our work is, is deep. And I really understand it, and that’s why I came here with
these keiki and I sit next to them, because I help them be born, I’m the māmā, I’m a māmā, I’m
Māmā Clare. And when you have the great honor of helping these children come into this world,
and I have their fathers catch their children, I have them bring their hā in, because these children
have already been told to me, even by the kupuna-s, that they’re gonna lead. We will not allow
this to happen. It can’t happen. And we also know, for the sake of all of your families of all of
you that are sitting there on the other side, that I think you should just go up and just cancel this
whole situation for your own safety and for the chi- for your own many generations of children,
because I’m sure you guys have good families. And nothing means more to us to have our
mo‘opuna and then the mo‘opuna have their mo‘opuna and the mo‘opuna, and then the dreams,
and then the people come and they say, “Hō, kū mau mau!” They already are ready. And we will
heal this place, because it’s all healable. And we will get people to stop using sunscreens and the
heiau-s will come back. And even before the ali‘i were the other, the old, old people. And I’ve
helped families from the Kahulamū; they do not believe it should be just their iwi that should be
saved. And there is no pono way of doing this. So, it is either pono or kaohe – is that? – the other
one when you, you cannot do it when you, like maha‘oi, you cannot do this, so that’s why we
know it won’t happen. Because at this point we’ve got to put our bodies down, if that’s what
happens next. But I know you are going to make a good decision because you are a smart man.
And you have to because you’ve got, you’ve got a line behind you, too. I know you’ve got –
you’ve got mo‘opuna? Sir, judge, you have mo‘opuna? You have your own grandchildren? And
you love them and you know you’re going to love them. So in all ways all of you that came here,
but especially our kupuna, mahalo nui, because I learn every time I come here. And mahalo nui
for everybody’s leo, because behind each one of these voices is another thousand. So, keep
speaking. Kūpa‘a. We’re always gonna win. And we’re always gonna restore it, because it can
be healed. Mahalo.
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
EDWINA LLANES: Good morning. Thank you. I did not expect to be here this morning, but I
felt compelled to be here. I was born and raised in, actually, I was born in South Kona, but I was
raised at La‘aloa Beach with my ‘ohana, which is the Kāne’s, but I lived in Kahalu‘u Lagoon and I
lived in Keauhou Bay, as well as Kailua-Kona because my ‘ohana is from there. We are all
interconnected with the Kahulamū’s, the Smith family, the Kanuha’s. We are, we are all from the
same blood. But the reason why I am here is that I need, I was kicked out of my ‘ōkole, I guess,
because I read the paper two days late, my husband got the Sunday paper and then he had all this
mantle and he had the Saturday paper; so, when I read it last night, I’m not prepared, but I was
compelled to be here. Because the area that we are talking about is very dear to me. First of all
we lived in Keauhou when I was a little girl. My dad was a commercial fisherman. That’s the
only livelihood we had. He fished, he went from Keauhou Bay all the way out to Kahalu‘u Bay
and to La‘aloa to get the ‘ōpelu. I was his partner because you needed two people to fish ‘ōpelu,
one to help tie the net, one to throw the charm. So, I know the area very, very well. We, we went
everywhere, we walked for miles, we had no cars. My brother had a bike, and we either stole it
from him to go down to the Kahulamū’s because I was, you know, we were good friends and
cousins, and Gertrude, the sister, and I was the same grade. But from Kona Lagoon on the,
towards the Surf and Racquet Club used to be my tūtū’s house, you know, the Ho‘olapa’s, and
they took care of the people from Keakealani’s, you know, so we are all really close. And I could
name every one of the families from Keauhou Bay all the way down to Kailua, because that’s
where we, we, we went when we were young. Every Sunday we always congregated at the
Palace. Our Tūtū Solomon took care of the Palace at the time, so we had great fond memories
along the way. But Kahalu‘u Beach at the time when I was young, was a lagoon, and it is a
lagoon, because where the parking lot is right now, it was a lagoon. We had a house that we lived
in. We took the little ramp and we stayed there for a part of the time. And if we didn’t stay there,
we stayed at Keauhou Beach at Carlsmith’s, because my family, you know, my dad was a
fisherman and he knew everyone, including Aunty Lily’s māmā who had a great mango tree in her
yard, which we did not steal, we had to ask her, you know. But everybody knew everybody. And
we did not need any water bottles. We did not know of any water bottles. There was no stores.
We, like they said, we stopped at certain places, we got our hands that was our cups, we went
down, then we scooped up the water everywhere, including Kahalu‘u, all the way down to
Charthouse, all the little places all the way down to where we needed to get at the Kailua Pier
where we congregated most of the time. So, everyone there is dear to my heart. And it would
have been, for me to not come today because I’m not prepared, like I said, I read it last night, I
have to say something that this place is really precious, because there was the old, Mr. Don Ping,
he had a two-story house, he had a small little canoe, he would go out in his canoe and come back,
he had big, you know, nets and everything. So, I mean, my husband learned how to throw a net
and he used to go fishing down there to supplement our income because we both worked at the
Kona Inn, we had low, you know, periods, we were paid a dollar and ten cents an hour, it didn’t
make, you know, ends meet. So, we go catch fish and go right down to Kahalu‘u, and then
pūlehu, you know, and have some barbecue. In fact – I’m dating myself – my husband and I had
our wedding reception at Kahalu‘u at the biggest pavilion. That’s where all of our children’s
parties were, you know. But, like Aunty Lily said, it’s really precious. You, you know, people
don’t understand that where they could put graves is where they could put. My sister died when
she was a young girl at La‘aloa Beach, and they took her all the way up to Kalaoa – that’s above
where Ahikawa where Kona Palisades is up there – they put her in The Church of Jesus Christ of
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
Latter-Day Saints, they didn’t have a spot for her, she was a tiny little girl, she was only eight
months, they put her in a little cave and buried her there. And most of my family, just like
‘O‘oma, they were all buried in caves. I can testify. I see it. We have our own family cave where
bodies are, shelf and shelf and shelf, and you can, you can tell. Also, at Ahikawa when they were
building and J. M. Tanaka was a big wicked at that time, bulldozed just like crazy, they were
clearing the land and all of the sudden the bulldozer went in. Lo and behold they had to call Tūtū
Joe Kahananui who’s a great man at that time, to go pule over whatever mishaps there was. And
he looked inside, he said to me, he told me the story himself, “Girlie, when I looked inside the
cave, I could see shelves of graves, and you could tell they were, by either tapa, you could tell by
the \[inaudible\] or by lau hala mats.” That’s how they cared, that’s how they buried the children.
So, from the mountain to the sea you are gonna find graves all over. When they say there is iwi
there, there is iwi there, whether they put it under the tree, whether the tree grew over the iwi, and
we know that can happen, but they are not lying. I’m not telling you a tale; I’m telling you what is
true. I know for a fact that the fishing gone, it’s not there, you know. I know for a fact we cannot
throw nets. My husband, you know, he used to catch great fish after, first time it was only one or
two, after that the nets were really full, because he learned, you know. Same like I heard earlier, at
White Sands Beach whenever sand goes down, the rocks come up, well, guess what, those green
limu, we ate; we washed it real clean, took all the sand out, and we ate it with stew or whatever we
could. And my aunty, Connie, she had her own limu ground everywhere you went. Same like the
Kahulamū’s, they all knew where to get and where not to take. So, I’m telling you right now I
also live down south right now, because we do have property from my father, it’s in in heritance.
My children were born and raised in Kona, so I know Simmy well because I used to work at the
bank. But my, my thing is that when they opened up the new road by Taniguchi to come down to
town, it’s a big laugh because there is a big road and you have Ali‘i Drive, big stop signs and there
is nothing, it’s not going anywhere, because, why, iwi’s all over the place. They are all over the
place.
Okay, so that’s one thing, but another thing is that no one taking a little survey of the traffic. The
lady said she comes from down south, well, guess what, I’m right on the side of the road, 96-mile
marker, I got out of my driveway this morning at 6:30, twelve cars passed me. I went to town, I
did my laundry, I didn’t realize, there was no mention of the time in the newspaper, so, I just, I
barely miss, you know, made it. But if I get out of my driveway, there’s like 15, 20 cars going,
and I get on, there’s more than 15, 20 cars coming in. So, coming out of Sandy’s I try to get out, I
couldn’t go either way, left or right, so the best way for me to do, go back to the right to Haleki‘i
Street and go down. It used to be a nice spot for me because hardly people ever, ever went there.
So, I thought, one day my husband and I, we were going to town just to go shopping, and so it was
at a standstill by Ali‘i Kai Drive, you know, you have to stop and give a right of way, oh, my
gosh, it was stop-go, stop-go, and I said to my husband this is unreal. So, you know, it’s like, and
then sometimes we come down to La‘aloa and we go up to the upper road; we don’t make it
because the traffic is just equally long. So, I’m looking at my own, my own method is, if you
have 50 homes and average family has four cars, you have extended families that move back
home, okay, we’ve got grandkids that they don’t have anywhere, they’re going to be homeless, if
we don’t take them in, so average of four cars, think about it, every home if you have 50, that’s a
lot of cars in the morning. I, I leave hour, hour and a half to come to town without stressing. So,
it’s not getting any better. There’s more building coming on. All I’m saying is Kailua is very
precious to me. My dad and I fished out there. We had a canoe. We didn’t have no big sports
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fishing. I fished with him ‘ōpelu net. So, thank you very much. And I say no to the development,
from the bottom of my heart, just no. Thank you.
TERESA NAKAMA: I’ll keep it short. Aloha kākou. My name is Teresa Nakama. I’ll come
from out of the box view. I will ask Bishop Estate, Kamehameha School, Towne Development,
go back to the table. I don’t know what the details are or what legal steps that you may have to
take. But, could you go back to the table and renegotiate and not sue each other that you vow out
of this deal? And Kamehameha School come with the understanding – I don’t know how much
money you have already spent – take your losses now, okay that loss, and put the project
somewhere else where we won’t have all this hakakā. Can that be done? Can you ask yourselves
that “Can we take this project elsewhere?” Kamehameha Schools, can you cut your losses, and
rebuild the broken trust, and extend the education where it’s happening now where the cultural
center is being revised where the heiau-s are at the beach site, and extend it all the way up the
ahupua‘a into this development, and take care of the sacred place? We have not talked about the
multitudes of people coming here. It impacts every one of us. It impacted my ‘ohana last year, as
we were having a reunion and we reserved the big pavilion at Kahalu‘u. I put yellow tapes, I put
tape across, we put foliage around, and the tourist, the foreign tourist said, “We are coming in.” I
said, “No, we have a family ‘ohana here. Why should you have the shade?” I said, “You came
here to enjoy the sun, so go ahead and take your bodies to the beach.” You know, impacts, you
not discuss impacts. How do we aloha these foreigners and they not impact us negatively? How
do we support Towne Development, Kamehameha Schools, and say, “Can we place this project
elsewhere?” That you cut your losses here. Kamehameha School, extend education from mauka
to makai, and not just makai. Can we think out of the box? Can you cut your losses, both ends,
both parties, and not have it to go through this? We will support you. We will support
Kamehameha Schools and we will support you, Towne Development, if this can be done. Can
you imagine 305 units? Average four family per unit per week? Can you imagine the rental cars
we have on the lots, I mean, Kona alone 25,000 cars that are extra on the road? What are the
impacts you did not think of? It’s a personal impact to every one of us here, whether you are new
here or you’ve been here for generations or we the locals that are not kanaka-s. I ask to cut your
losses and take this project where it’s supposed to be, if can. And if you need help from the
public, ask us. Ask us. We want to support something, but it has to be pono, and logically
speaking, financially great for the investors that you folks represent, for your pockets, our pockets.
How can this be a positive project that is not at Kahalu‘u? And how can we help Kamehameha
School extend the legacy of education to our keiki-s? And, it’s still bottom line about money, but
how do we make it positive? Mahalo.
MAHINA PAI: My name is Mahina Pai. Thank you for this kūkā. I’d like to share that, yes, I’m
against this development. Mahina Pai. My ‘ohana come from here, long time ago. I’m also a
‘ohana for a lot of ‘ohana here as well. I’d like to share that, yes, I oppose to the development and
there’s a lot of reasons. One of the reasons, I confirmed this morning with Brittany at the County
Parks and Recreation. If you remember, there is a sign over there with the West Hawai‘i Today
st
newspaper on March 1, there was a repair that was done. There’s two repairmen on the front
st
page of the West Hawai‘i newspaper on March 1, and the two repairmen is repairing the pipe.
You can see that, in fact, again, I worked at one time for the Kamehameha Schools. When I did, I
saw some things that were very disturbing to me with regard to the treatment and the process and
the protocol that was supposed to be carried out with regard to a cultural monitor when a machine
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is excavating in the area. In this situation the area was in the Kona Lagoon area where I worked.
And there was no cultural monitor. I was the operator on the excavator to create this dry well that
was for the graywater that the Kamehameha Schools had put together over there at the old
Keauhou Beach Hotel. But, again, this repair that was done is by the section of the pipe that
rusted away. Again, this pipe is submerged in the water. In 2014 as a worker there, creating the
fence around the hotel, discouraged a lot of the tourists from coming onto this site, on my break I
walked over and looked at this Kahalu‘u Beach and I saw the pipe that was exposed. And I put
that in the paper. I was a commenter going by the name of Hawaiian Kingdom Reporter in the
West Hawai‘i Today newspaper. But, yeah, you can see that the picture, it shows by the section
that’s being repaired of the length of pipe. Again, this pipe is cast-iron. It’s one of the very first
pipe in plumbing that would be used in infrastructure, and very, can be damaged with regard to
chlorides, especially when they are submerged in saltwater. In this case when I seeing the pipe
exposed alongside the same wall, I notice that the caulking, there was a caulking, it’s a hub pipe,
and you place the other one in the other one, and as you place it in the other one, the connection,
there is a little rope, a caulking, that you stuff in there to create this seal. Well, it wasn’t there.
Suffice to say when this thing started happening of these people getting sick and everything, I
made a comment with regard to the things that I saw as the Kamehameha Schools work. Well, as
a worker for ISGF, Innovative Systems \[Group\] of Florida, was a vendor for the Kamehameha
Schools that I worked for. So, I can say that I was very disturbed with regard to that, but I did it
very slowly and I made a puka, so to speak, just enough so that the School can continue this
program. Also, so, at 8:47 this morning I spoke to Brittany, the clerk of the Director with Parks
and Recreation, Charmaine Kamaka, who then confirmed that in fact the repair was completed on
st
March 1. And I can tell you it’s not completed. It’s but a temporary fix. Also, when you look at
that picture of these two repairmen, you see that there’s two flanges that will be attached to the
small section of pipe, this fiberglass section of pipe, these two flanges have stainless steel cramps
on them. These cramps will rust when submerged in saltwater. So it’s not a complete fix. And I
think this meeting right now is a premature endeavor. Also, unfortunately, our past administration
has not been able to adjust the situations at Kahalu‘u Park, unfortunately. And the seal, if I may,
the seal of the State of Hawai‘i, “Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka ‘Āina I Ka Pono,” means to be pono,
especially with regard to the ‘āina, the land, upon which we eat from. And also, there’s two
‘ohana of ours; the ‘ohana is Kupuna Ke‘eaumoku and Kamanawa. These two ‘ohana that stand
on the seal represent all our ‘ohana there. They’ve been desecrated, the seal, our standard, our
Code of Honor, has been desecrated again. Please do not do it again. The corridor of the kings
should remain as such whose essence continue. Please consider going back I don’t know what
you’ve got to do, but cancel this thing out until you can come up with something better. If not,
just cut your losses, like Teresa said, and be done with it. And if you are as you were and continue
to, the State of Hawai‘i, exploit us, the Hawaiian culture as identity, or as a commodity, for the
resources, for your government to continue, then come beat us, include my ‘ohana there, the
corridor. Leave them alone. Mahalo.
TOM MANN: I am excited to be here. You’ve got to excuse me for walking on my pair of feet.
And – that’s okay – first of all I just would like to say I’m privileged to be here I did not know, I
did not know about this issue until I read in the paper. However, I have to say that I’ve been
working for 24 straight months, because I’ve noticed that there is unfair playing field when it
comes to data analysis. Let’s be really clear; data is the thing that drives everything that we do.
As a member of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the person who designed your maps
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and your charts and your geodesy, I’m a world-class expert, known worldwide for the work that
I’ve done. We’ve created a few mobile drones that we’d like to use on some of these projects. I’d
like you to consider using some of these drones, Number One, for mapping, so that we can
identify the base area of the maps you have. Now, your base maps currently are ten meters. We
can deliver those to you at one foot. Now, second thing is the archaeologist of State of Hawai‘i, I
contacted him, great article in an archaeological magazine just came up this month, talking about
using drones to find burial sites, places you can’t see. You see, the technology that you use, I
don’t know what your scientists use. I’d like to say that Konaprojects is a business, that’s my
business, but it’s an honest business. This is about fairness and being able to go into a code of
law, and say, “Put me against your expert and let me look at his data.” Because it’s inside the data
that we’ll find, is it done correctly, is it done to standard? No. By the way, has there been any
technological changes that we can use, that we have at our disposal this moment this day? I do. I
have a friend at Para Company; they have a multi-spectral camera they’ve offered to me. I’m
willing to spend 3,500 dollars of my own money, Kamehameha Group, on my own money I’ll buy
it this afternoon. Then there is an infrared drone that I can get forth; that will take me about 18
days. And in 35 days I’ll turn around a map for you that combine all your GIS layers. But look at
your hydrology, and then I want to bring in the Army hydrologist because, you see, I used to
command the Army hydrologists. And what we want to do is make sure that when you sit there
and say, in a volcanic rocky surface – and I was just over there with your training program. Oh,
by the way, when you are talking about your water system, you are not talking about a water
system being delivered; you are talking about a water system being delivered that’s not on the
volcanic rock. Who is swimming in Kahalu‘u Bay and does not know that it gets cold as shit out
there? I do. So, I suggest that we look at finding an independent party to review data, a group of
fine citizens, a group of four fine citizens and independent, and they will look at the data and we
ask ourselves this question: How is the data, to what standard was it developed, who is responsible
for the data, and then what actions can we take to either confirm or deny a course of action for the
people of State of Hawai‘i? And I can tell you one thing, as a Google local guy, Number One in
the world, who gets 2.6 million people, I tell every person to use Google Home, because this is the
most important section of the State of Hawai‘i, the six and a half miles. And I study it and I walk
the streets every day. Thank you very much.
MERRY ANNE STONE: I came here 25 years ago. I had the fortune to meet Haumea Smith.
She lives right there at Kahalu‘u, or she did live there. She was an amazing woman and she
shared a lot of her stories with me, living down at Kahalu‘u. I went through – I live at White
Sands Terrace now. I’ve lived there 25 years. I went through Towne Development and that whole
issue of Ali‘i Heights and the whole fiasco of what they promised and what we didn’t get. I love
the fact that you are all standing up and saying this project should not go here; please save the land
and the water; make Kamehameha be more responsible to their children; provide more avenues for
their children, I mean, if you are building domes, we would be there probably helping you build
the domes for the children; use that land religiously and appreciate it. I hate to hear people say,
oh, hey, the County has already given Kahalu‘u out the door because there are so many tourists,
they don’t care. I’m sorry, stop this project. Don’t even waste your time going any further. Don’t
believe what Towne Development tells you. They don’t, they don’t follow through with their
terms. They change. Boy, Chris Yuen and Towne Development did a deal at Ali‘i Heights, and I
know it affected our water. Thank you so much. And this is for Haumea. I loved her dearly.
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
SUZANNE KAULIA: Aloha. My name is Suzanne Kaulia. I grew up down Kahalu‘u. This is
my brother, my younger brother, Alapa‘i. He already did our mo‘okū‘auhau. I’m opposing this
development. I’m speaking on behalf of me, my kids, their kids, their kids, my ancestors that are
down there now. I never did speak in front of people and I hate to get up in front of people. And
this developers, before bringing us down here – I always get mad because I hear, oh, you’ve got to
come down for testify against development – you guys got to do you guys’ research before you
guys bring us to the table. Ask the people. They know. I’m against this project. ‘A‘ole, like
Uncle said. ‘A‘ole. It’s not right. So, you guys research first before wasting all of our time
coming down here for our coast, wasting our time, all of these guys’ time. Mahalo.
FRED CACHOLA: Aloha, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Planning Commission. My name is
Fred Cachola. I’m from Kohala. I’ve been very active in historic preservation. I served two
terms on the Historic Site Review Board. I served on the Advisory Commission that helped
establish Kaloko-Honokōhau National Park. I’m on the Hawai‘i Island Burial Council, and I
serve on many other respects up in Kohala where we have saved a lot of wahi pana historic sites.
I speak definitely against this proposal for several reasons. Number One, I spoke to my friend at
Kamehameha Schools. I worked at Kamehameha Schools for 25 years. It was my privilege to be
their Director of Extension Education that took Kamehameha Schools to places where they had
never gone before. Places like wahi pana; they are natural classrooms. It’s inconceivable to me
that Kamehameha Schools would allow this kind of project to happen, just mauka of an area that
they are now rezoned for cultural educational purposes at Kahalu‘u Ma Kai. I questioned my
friend, Wally Tyrell, who used to be president of KIC. I understand that this project is pending
approval of a sale by KIC. KIC does not exist anymore. I challenge this Planning Commission to
see that agreement. Who signed it, when, what was the deal? I challenge, if you have not seen
that, the general public should see that. We have not seen that. Where is this agreement? It
doesn’t exist. KIC was a profit, for-profit development by the Kamehameha Schools. It is no
longer there. As such, that land belongs to the Kamehameha Schools. Did the Kamehameha
Schools then have an obligation previously to sell this land for this project? I do not believe so.
It’s inconceivable for me to think that the Kamehameha Schools, just a few hundred yards away,
are restoring two magnificent heiau, tearing down a commercial hotel, and trying to create a
cultural learning center to benefit the youth of Hawai‘i in Kona and everybody else in the world.
And I’m so proud and glad that I was part of that movement 40 years ago to help Kamehameha do
that, and they are doing it right now. If you haven’t seen that – Mr. Chairman, have you seen that
agreement? \[CRUDELE: I’m not sure what agreement you are speaking to.\] Has anybody seen
an agreement from KIC that says it would sell this land? Has anybody seen an agreement for
selling 43 acres of wahi pana, of burial sites, of heiau? ‘A‘ole. So, how can you be here? How
can you be here having a public hearing without evidence of a document like that? What gives
Ocean Villas the authority to even suggest for a building permit? They don’t own the land. Have
you seen an agreement, Mr. Chairman? Have you seen an agreement? \[CRUDELE: This is your
opportunity to testify, not —\] Okay, then I, I will say, Mr. Chairman, if you have not, I strongly
testify that you see that agreement. And it’s inconceivable, unconscionable, for you to even
consider something like this without evidence of a firm agreement. I just talked to the Land
Assets people at Kamehameha Schools today, right from the Kona office; do they know anything
about this ‘a‘ole? They don’t. And yet Ocean Villas say they do. Thank you very much,
Mr. Chairman. But, please see that permit and let the public see it, too. Thank you.
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
LILY MAKUAHINE NAMAKAOKAIA HA‘ANIO KONG: I just want to say something to you
all, especially to you people. Now that everyone had testified, if you do need to take a tour,
walk-in tour, get me while I still can walk. I’ll gladly help you. Thank you.
KIMBERLY CRAWFORD: Aloha. My name is Kimberly Crawford. My home is on the slopes
of Hualālai. I was born and raised in the Ahupua‘a of Kalaoa. I’m here today first and foremost
as a mother. I’m a mother of a beautiful kanaka baby girl whose future I’m very concerned about.
I’m also here as just a concerned community member and a kia‘i loko, which is a fishpond
guardian. I’m young and definitely in training, but the first thing I’ve learned is to observe. And I
think a lot of us need to learn that lesson here to just sit back and observe; observe what’s already
in front of our eyes. So, when I imagine this huge project at Kahalu‘u in my head, I ask myself
what this would do for the Kona community. Will our people who are struggling to keep a roof
over their head have a home? How about the people without a roof on their head? Will they have
a home? Will our people who are in desperate need of access to clean and healthy food, will they
get that? Will the quality of our water increase, our drinking water, our wai, something that’s the
life source for everything on this planet? Because in Kahalu‘u it’s not looking very well. How
about, will our people be granted access to land that was stolen from them? Because it looks like
it’s going to be taken away even further. So, no, no to all of these things. That’s my answer to
these questions. I can answer them myself. And those are the real problems in our community.
So, how dare you folks come up here in front of us, adding more weight to the load? Thank you
for listening to us, though. And have a great day.
The public testimony ended at 10:47 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Noriko Sauer, Secretary
Leeward Planning Commission
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2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case