2017-11-02 Hearing Transcript - Celestial Sanctum 501(C)3 SPP 17-192

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HENKEL: Okay, I see that as kind of mitigating the traffic, too. There's not going to be everyday 21 people going in and out. They're there for a week and then. KAY: Yeah, I understand, and the other thing that the Applicant talked about in the application was the purchase of a multi -passenger van to accommodate those retreat guests. Our understanding is in between, non -retreat guests would likely be using their own individual vehicles. CLARKSON: May I comment on that— HENKEL: —Yes, go ahead. CLARKSON: because I'm very familiar with this kind of argument. This is near Volcanoes National Park. I'm assuming that people who fly out to Hawaii even for a retreat will want to take in a little bit of the scenery. They will be coming and going in between their lessons and going to the Park, going and seeing a little bit of Hawaii. I still don't quite understand how a van system would work. Most people will not all come in on the same flight, so whether they have individual cars, 21 individual cars perhaps, or 21 individual van trips to go to the airport to pick up a participant really makes no difference. The other thing that was not mentioned that to me speaks to the impact on the neighborhood is the need, going to be the continuous need for heavy truck traffic on the access road hauling potable water to support the commercial kitchen. And, commercial kitchens use a lot of water. A typical truck hauls 5,000 gallons. I can see one or more of those trucks per week grinding their way up to the lodge, and affecting the, affecting their neighbors with noise and traffic. HENKEL: Do you have a response, Zendo? KERN: Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Appreciate the response, the comments very much. Again, we're on the, you know, the Big Island, and it has its challenging arenas that we have very little Urban land. We have a lot of Ag, and we have a lot of Conservation. And, in this place like Puna, you, say you want to do something of this nature, you're very limited on where you could do it. And, some of the places that would be allowable wouldn't—they don't have the ambiance. They don't have the feeling that you'd want to have that, so it's, it's tricky. You know, any time you come in and look at a Special Permit, it is kind of a case-by-case situation. Does this, does this make sense? When looking at this parcel, seeing that it is surrounded by large parcels, it's out there, keeping the sound decibel levels down. It, it felt like it, you know, it was a right location for that type of activity for that type of endeavor. One of the things I want to also add in to that is these are all Ag parcels, right? And, if Ag was a, was more viable here in the County, there would be a tremendous amount of truck traffic going up and down that road. There would be no road improvements that need to be done. So, that, that potential exists. I know it's not necessarily the reality of what's there now, but it could be. Somebody could start a farm up there, and they could have massive trucks going in and out of there. EXHIBIT A 14