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Now, if this application were to allow the Applicant to construct the building, construct the
<br />warehouse, have parking, what would that do? That would destroy the ag potential of the land,
<br />right? Cause all of a sudden you have a building there. You're gonna rip the building down? Of
<br />course now. But, this doesn't allow them to build any permanent structures. It allows them to
<br />operate out of their home and basically store the portable toilets there and store some trucks. So
<br />what does that essentially do? It preserves the ag land. If the Applicant were to stop using this,
<br />they'd take the toilets away. They'd take the trucks away. What do we have? Prime ag land.
<br />So, to me, on an island in the County of Hawaii, that's challenging. It's challenging to operate a
<br />business here. It's challenging to survive here. We love this place. I'm born and raised—this is
<br />my home, and we do what we have to do to survive here. And, so this to me is an almost ideal
<br />situation from a certain perspective where you have a family -based business. They operate out
<br />of their home. You have agriculture activity on over half of the land, and on one acre, you have
<br />storage of the portable toilets and trucks. This is a local family business. This is ag. And, this is
<br />a family living at their home. That's Big Island.
<br />Again, if this wasn't on prime, we'd probably be having a different situation. If you look at the
<br />other parcels in the area, there's not a lot of viable ag activity going on. At the same time, if it
<br />does become viable in the future, great! The land is still preserved. It does not take away the
<br />agriculture potential of this land.
<br />I think something else to really consider is the client, when the Applicant, when they had the
<br />original Special Permit issued, they went out and they worked on finding a new location. They
<br />found one in Hilo. They're using it. They looked on the other side. There's a letter in there
<br />from Caleb Yamanaka, who is their real estate agent, broker, that was searching for—and he sent
<br />a letter to me saying that, the challenges that they had.
<br />So, if the Applicant were able to find a suitable location in those areas, I think they'd be there.
<br />Obviously, price point, location, West Hawaii is, can be much more challenging than Hilo side.
<br />So, you know, here they are. They made—they made the effort. They went out there. They did
<br />it. It's not like we're not going to do anything, come back and, you know, ten years, and ask for
<br />it again.
<br />So, I think the Applicant showed good intentions. So, my ask is if the Commission isn't
<br />comfortable with, you know, having the permit run indefinitely, what would be a reasonable time
<br />frame? Cause right now, basically, the permit expires in about two years from now. So, the
<br />Recommendation as it sits now is to allow five years, so that's basically an additional three
<br />years.
<br />Would the Commission consider ten years from the date of the expiration of this? That would be
<br />reasonable, in my opinion, and again, by allowing it, it does not take away the potential of the
<br />prime ag land. It allows a family operation, family business to continue to go, and, you know,
<br />operate as they have been. We don't have anybodyI haven't received a call. I haven't
<br />received a letter of people that were in opposition of it from the neighbors. We sent out the
<br />notices to surrounding property owners. That tells me that they're doing something right.
<br />They're still in business. Excuse me—they're doing something right.
<br />EXHIBIT A
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